Time and a Half
by Merendel
Summary: A Ranma and Wheel of time cross over
1. Prologue

Well this is my first attempt at a fanfic, I hope you all enjoy it. This is Primarily a Ranma ½ and a Wheel of time crossover. One of the new characters is partially based off of the Legend of Zelda OOT storyline but interaction with that world will remain primarily flashbacks and I'm not considering this a crossover to that story.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any character, reference or situation from: Ranma 1/2. which belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and her publishers: Viz and Kitty Films. Wheel of Time series. which belongs to Robert Jordan and Tor books. Legend of Zelda which belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. All references to other stories not explicitly mentioned also do not belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended and I do this purely for enjoyment.

Meren Hotan and the other denizens of Nekota are my own creation (except where it crosses over with LoZ) and as such you must Email me if you wish to use them.

And without further ado.

* * *

_She stood in a chamber that could only be described as hell itself. The sky which should not be visible this deep in the earth unnaturally shifted through every color but blue. Dark clouds raced across the sky at unnatural speeds in several directions at once. A strange haze blocked the great fiery calderas from view but the heat could be clearly felt. The evil emanating from the very air was nearly overwhelming._

_She tightened her grip on her sword and long knife. The enemy was coming and soon she must fight for the survival of the world. Glancing to her left she smiled at the man besides her. He returned the smile and nodded assuring her that he was ready. There was only one person who could win this war, only one who could save the world. It was up to the two of them to ensure he survived to fight the battle he must. If they failed here the world would fall._

_She nodded to her companion and turned her eyes forwards. Her enhanced sight picked up on the first hint of their enemy. Her powers surged through her stronger than ever before as she charged._

Meren woke with a start. Every night since arriving on Nekota two weeks ago she had this same dream. The dream must mean something but what? Where was that? Who was the enemy? Who was her companion? Too many questions and her powers were not giving her any answers.

She looked up and saw her father, Ardall Hotan approaching. "Is it time?"

"Yes," he replied with a nod.

Meren stood and readied herself for battle. "Let's go"

* * *

_He stood in a chamber that could only be described as hell itself. The sky which should not be visible this deep in the earth unnaturally shifted through every color but blue. Dark clouds raced across the sky at unnatural speeds in several directions at once. A strange haze blocked the great fiery calderas from view but the heat could be clearly felt. The evil emanating from the very air was nearly overwhelming._

_He shifted his stance preparing for the fight that was approaching. The enemy was coming and soon she must fight for the survival of the world. Glancing to his right he saw a woman besides him holding a sword in one hand and a long knife in the other. She looked at him and smiled. There was only one person who could win this war, only one who could save the world. It was up to the two of them to ensure he survived to fight the battle he must.. If they failed here the world would fall._

_He returned the smile and nodded to assure here that he was prepared. She returned the nod and looked forward once more. Moments later she glowed brightly as her power surged and she charged. He followed knowing this would be the fight of his life._

Ranma woke with a start. _What the heck is up with these dreams,_ he thought. He had been having that same dream every night for two weeks. The first couple he attributed to Akane's cooking but he hadn't eaten anything she had prepared in a week. He didn't want to think about the dream that much. He would love to be in the fight it showed but he would be in for it if Akane found out he was dreaming about another girl.

Glancing at the time he realized that his father would be wakening up in a few minutes and would likely throw him out the window into the koi pond to start their morning sparing session. Seeing that pops was still asleep he had an idea.

Seconds later the fat, bald old man landed with a splash in the koi pond as Ranma hopped out the window. _Bout time I got him_ Ranma thought as a wet panda emerged from the pond. He braced himself for combat as the panda charged.

* * *

Meren desperately tried to clear her head as she extracted herself from a pile of rubble. Her battle armor had absorbed the magical energy and saved her life but the spell still had enough kick to embed her in the wall. _This guys a monster_ she thought as she flung herself out of the path of another blast. 

She and her father were in a large round chamber with the Sorcerer, Theon Nmer, who had been terrorizing their people for years. In the center of the chamber was a statue made of a dark crystal surrounded by a purple force field. . She was projecting a blue energy barrier around her father to protect him from stray magic blasts while she relied on her armor to protect herself. Theon was floating around the chamber throwing magical blasts at Meren.

Dodging another blast Meren started scanning the magical spectrum trying to find a way to defeat their enemy. The sorcerer was largely ignoring her father; he couldn't penetrate the barrier to reach the statue and really couldn't do any meaningful damage to the sorcerer. Meren for her part hadn't been able to penetrate the field either but she had caused the sorcerer a great deal of pain.

_Too bad he just regenerates._ She had flat out vaporized him twice already but he had popped back up within seconds good as new. She had sheathed her sword as any time she cut him the entry wound was sealed before the blade exited the other side of his body, only her magical attacks were effective.

_He and the statue are linked but how?_ She thought as she watched the magical interactions in the room. Ducking another shot she launched a large fireball at her foe that took off his left arm. As he regenerated Meren watched the flow of magic, _that's it!_

"Father!" she yelled to get his attention before switching to Rernil a sign language based off the tails of their race. She did not want their foe to know what she planed.

>That statue regenerates him when he takes damage, we need to take it out to kill him> she signed and barely dodged another bolt.

>That figures, how do we get to it?> Ardall replied

>When its regenerating him the barrier weakens briefly. I'm boosting your shield to full power, when I attack try to force your way through the barrier and smash the stat-> she was cut off as she didn't quite dodge the next bolt. It flung her into the barrier this time witch gave her a good jolt before launching her into the far wall.

She got up with a groan, that impact had cracked two ribs. Normally she would heal it but the flow of power she used for healing also powered the shield protecting her father. _I'll just have to deal with it till we finish this bastard._ Grimacing in pain she inhaled deeply then exhaled huge gout of flame at the Theon. A magical shield partially protected him from the flames but only enough to slow the pace the inferno consumed his body.

Meren could feel the barrier weaken as the statue redirected power to counter the damage she was inflicting on her foe. Then she felt a strain on her power and knew her father was starting his attack. Risking a glance she was nearly blinded by the discharge of the two fields colliding, she could just make out her father slowly advancing through the barrier.

Just then a massive bolt of energy flew from the firestorm Meren was generating. The bolt slammed into the back of Meren's father pushing him harder into the field. The sorcerer had realized almost too late his peril and launched a desperate attack on this new threat. The barrier that Meren was generating could handle the power of the field and it could handle the power of the bolt, but not both at once.

The shield shattered and Meren screamed falling to her knees as the backlash of energy surged through her. Ardall was thrown backwards from the field landing in a heap a short distance from the perimeter. The shield had absorbed the bolt before shattering but that left him unprotected halfway inside the force field. His body had nearly been torn apart before the field threw him aside.

"Nooooo!" Meren screamed as she staggered over to him. The feedback from the shattered shield was causing her powers to fluctuate wildly, she couldn't generate another shield but her armor was still up. She flung herself over him attempting to shield him with her body. She was horrified at the sight of her father's mangled body.

His tail was a charred stump as was his left arm his right leg was missing below the knee and the rest of him was badly burned. _No! I can't loose him again! Not like this._ She desperately tried to control her powers and form them into a healing spell but they would not respond.

Her father reached up with his remaining arm and pulled her close. "Save… our… people…" he forced out with a rattling breath.

"Hang on father, well save our people together." Meren was still hopelessly attempting to heal him as his hand fell back to the ground and he lay still.

Meren wailed in despair as her father slipped away. A sinister and highly pleased laugh came from behind her.

"About time he finally died. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I would have preferred he lived long enough to see me tare you limb from limb but I suppose I shall have to settle for killing you second." The Theon cackled maniacally as he gathered all his energy into one massive spell.

Meren knelt there over her father unmoving as the spell was charged and fired. The sorcerer cackled some more as he saw his spell close and his target made no attempt to dodge. That pesky armor of hers would not protect her this time. His laughter died abruptly as the bolt struck Meren and did nothing. No explosion, no scream of pain, no body flying through the air, nothing at all. The girl just seemed to absorb the magical energies as if they were nothing.

Electricity arched along the gold highlights of her armor as she slowly stood. _Impossible, her armor couldn't have absorbed all that, and even if it did the impact alone should have turned her to paste_.

Meren had only one thought on her mind. Revenge. The fact that the subject of her revenge was present and completing her task would fulfill her fathers dieing request was a pleasant coincidence. She felt something snap within herself, something primal had just been freed from its bonds and she gave it free rain. Her power surged, building upon itself and growing stronger by the second. She channeled all of it into one final attack, the last time she had used this it had vaporized an army and over a mile of open field. The power of that attack was but a candle compared to what flowed through her now.

The Theon grew concerned as he saw the power building around the girl. He watched Meren bring her hands together in front of her leveling them at him. As her head came up he was shocked to see the pure black orbs her eyes had become. As he watched her armor faded from view, seeing his chance he attacked while she was vulnerable. He knew fear for the first time in his life as his blasts were swatted away by the power raging before him.

She could feel the power searing through her mind as it built to new heights that would have terrified her had she the sanity remaining to recognize it. The power built until she knew that any more would destroy her body before she could have her revenge. "Die!" she commanded in a completely inhuman voice as she fired her attack.

A bar of pure gold energy that was as wide as the chamber lanced out from her hands vaporizing the sorcerer before he had time to register her word. The horrific recoil of her spell threw her backwards with such force that she shattered through the barrier and the crystal statue contained within.

She felt an explosion of energy as she flew backwards and a strange tearing sensation. She knew she had taken her hated enemy with her. She was somewhat surprised when she saw blue sky above her.

_Sky? How can there be sky this far under ground? _ She did not have long to ponder this as she struck something and the world went black.

* * *

It was a standard morning in Nerima. The usual morning sounds filled the air. The sound of birds singing, the bees buzzing, the sound of the wind passing through the trees, a loud crash followed by a scream of "Ranma no Baka!" Yes it was an ordinary day in Nerima. 

"Stupid Un-cute Macho Tomboy" Ranma muttered as he flew through the air courtesy of air Akane. He had only asked if the Miso soup was supposed to dissolve the serving spoon. It was a valid question considering utensils normally did not dissolve in food; there was no reason to hit him for it. Of course maybe the fact that the rice was emitting a green glow and the pickles were sprouting legs wasn't the best thing to point out to her either.

Ranma didn't know what to do about Akane. At times she was nice enough and even, though he hated to admit it, kind of cute. Often though she would become violent and hit him for little to no reason. True they were both victims of their fathers' plots to see them married but she could at least try to be understanding at times. Most of the time she would hit him for something that wasn't even his fault and wouldn't give him time to explain.

_Figures, she would have to hit me right at the school._ It looked like Ranma would be arriving early to class today for a change. That would please Ms. Hinako and the principle no end although for Ranma it was just dragging out the boredom of going to school. Maybe Ryoga would show up to help him pass the time befo- _what the?_

Two purple clouds of energy abruptly appeared in mid air about forty yards apart. They were both crackling with energy and Ranma's flight path would pass directly between them. Just as he passed between the two clouds an object fired out of one crashing into Ranma's chest before carrying both into the other cloud.

_Flicker_

Nerima was gone, for as far as Ranma could see there was nothing but snowy tundra. _Where?_

_Flicker_

Ranma was now flying through a forest comprised of impossibly tall trees. Glancing down he realized that the object that hit him was a person.

_Flicker_

The scenery kept changing, now they were flying through a city of huge buildings, vehicles flew through the air…

_Flicker_

… A desert of endless sand…

_Flicker_

… A swamp…

_Flicker_

…a sky filled with orange and pink clouds…

_Flicker Flicker Flicker_

The scenery was changing too fast for Ranma to keep track of. _What's going on_ he thought just before he felt himself hit something. He saw the top of a tree falling to the ground just before he crashed into the ground along with his unexpected traveling companion.

Ranma rolled out from under the person who had landed on top of him with a groan. _Where am I_? He thought as he looked around. He had landed in a somewhat thin forest that stretched on for some distance before obscuring his line of sight.

A quick check reviled that his companion was female and alive but unconscious. He wasn't surprised that she was out, he rubbed his sore chest and figured even he would probably be knocked out slamming into someone headfirst that hard. The fact that she was otherwise apparently unhurt did surprise him. _She must be a good fighter to survive a blow like that_.

She was wearing a dark red jerkin of supple leather, green pants and brown boots. A brown belt toped by a strange golden cord adorned her waist and there was a knife and several bags hanging from the belt. She was also wearing a dark green cloak and the hilt of a sword was visible over her shoulder. _Defiantly a fighter of some sort carrying weapons like that, I wonder how good she is._

Ranma stared in shock as he saw her face. There, framed in golden blond hair, was the face of the girl that had haunted his dreams for the past two weeks.

* * *

A/N: 

Well that's the end of the prologue. If your wondering on where things are in the various timelines.

Ranma: just after volume 35 of the manga (just before his mother discovering the curse.)

WOT: you haven't seen it yet but this is 2 days before the rest of the crew reaches Shadar Logoth. Meren and Ranma will met them next chapter.

Meren in relation to LoZ: roughly 35 years after OOT.

Following chapters will be much longer and the first few should be up as soon as my pre reader is done with them. I've already written 5 chapters totaling over 65k words. (and that's only to the end of EOTW and just beyond.)

If you like this story please review. If you don't like this story and want to give constructive feed back please review. If you don't like this story and want to flame me "Roni nar rashnik shnee tassha!" I leave it to your imagination to figure that one out.

update note: this site really doesn't like some symbols and strips them right out.I'll have to use >speech> to designate that the speaker is using an alternate language when not all present speak the same languages. bit of a pain but I'll deal with it.


	2. Sattered Memories

In honor of Knife Dreams, Book 11 of the Wheel of time coming out today I'm posting chapter 1 now despite the fact that my pre reader hasn't gotten around to finishing with it yet. I think I found and fixed most of the errors, if not I'll just repost later. Of course this new reading material will delay any more writing for at least a week but things were already stalled as I reread TGH and DR in preparation for the next several chapters. Chaps 2-5 should follow shortly if I can get my prereader off her butt.

Quick note on what various text types mean:

_Italics are direct thoughts or dreams._

_Thoughts in dreams 'look like this'._

>This is someone speaking a language that not all present understand.> (stupid site strips out the open bracket so I have to use two close ones.)

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, situations not mine, yada yada yada. Go read the prologue's disclaimer it still applys.

* * *

Time and a Half. Chapter 1, Shattered Memories. 

Ranma glanced around nervously as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. _Oh man Akane is going to kill me; not only having dreams about another girl but now I'm alone with that girl._ Not seeing any sign of Akane or a mallet he relaxed slightly although he still expected her to wander out from behind a tree at any moment.

Since there was nothing he could do for the girl but wait for her to wake up Ranma decided to try and find out where he was. Locating a tall tree he leaped into it, several bounds carried him to the top. From his perch at the top of the tree he took in his surroundings. There was a river some miles to the north and a mountain range to the west off in the distance. The terrain was mostly rolling hills with patches of forest here and there.

For as far as the eye could see there was no sign of civilization. There were also no landmarks that Ranma could recognize. _Where did we end up_ he wondered as he dropped back to the ground. Just as he returned to the ground the girl ground and sat up slowly holding her head. "Are you alright?" he asked.

_Ug what hit me? My head feels like someone tried to use it for an anvil._ As she attempted to clear her head she heard someone speak. She looked up but her eyes were having trouble focusing. "What?" she asked in a half daze to the figure she was pretty sure was a man. The figure said something she could not understand again. "I cant unders- Arg!" suddenly her forehead felt like it was on fire and she felt like someone was driving a stake through her temples.

As Meren doubled over clutching her head Ranma grew even more concerned. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

The pain faded as quickly as it had begun, "I'm alright I think, for a moment my head- Wait'a'minute you speak Hylian?"

"No I speak Japanese and I've picked up a little bit of Chinese and English, you're speaking Japanese right now." Ranma never having heard of Hylian wondered how this girl had mistaken Japanese for it.

"No I'm no-" Meren paused as she realized that she was speaking a language she had never heard before. _What the?_ Shaking her head and resolving to figure out here new language skills once more pressing matters were resolved she continued. "Never mind, I want to know who you are and where you've taken me." She demanded as her eyes finally managed to focus enough to take in her surroundings.

"Me? You're the one who brought me here" he replied indignantly.

"I doubt that. Somehow I think I would remember bringing someone like you somewhere. Besides why would I drag you out somewhere that I didn't even know about?"

"I don't know why you did it but you defiantly ran into me and dragged me here. It's not my fault if you have memory problems." Ranma thought about that for a moment, _she did hit me headfirst I guess she could have am- amne- memory loss._

Meren was not happy at all with Ranma. _I've got better things to do than waist time with this jerk even if I have been dreaming about him. I need to get rid of him and get back to…_ she drew a blank on where she needed to get back to. _Let's see the last thing I remember was… a fight? Then there was a blast I think but what happened after that?_ Racking her brain she couldn't for the life of her remember where she had been or who she had been fighting. Growing more concerned she tried to recall anything about her life before today, all she could come up with were scattered and disjointed images.

Fighting off panic she tried to calm herself _ok Meren calm down. You can't remember anything, don't think about the problem think of a solution._ Unfortunately the best she could come up with was waiting and hope her memory returned on its own. _ With my memory shredded like this that guy could be right._

Ranma had watched the girl's expression range from enraged to confused, panicked and finally resigned. Finally determining that this was a bad sign he tried the first thing that came to mind. "Um… I didn't mean- erm I mean to say I'm sure you have a great memory and all…"

Meren chuckled at that highly articulate statement. "No your right something is wrong with my memory. I can only remember a few scattered images and feelings that make no sense. If what you say is true I'm sorry for getting you into this. I'd send you home if I could but I don't even know how I'm going to get home… in fact I don't even know where home is."

"There's gota be a way home. I mean we got here didn't we? Just do whatever you did in reverse and we should be home before dinner." Ranma was quite pleased with his brilliant plan although his stomach grumbled at the mention of dinner.

Meren shook her head, "I wish it was that simple but I don't even know what I did to bring us here or even if it was something I did myself. Besides doing whatever happened backwards could make maters worse."

_Drat_ it looked like he wouldn't be home in time for dinner and Ranma didn't like the idea of missing a meal. "Ok if that wont work do you have a better plan?"

Meren didn't like his tone but ignored it with a sigh. _I guess he has every right to be upset if I somehow dragged him here away from his home._ "The way I see it we have two options. First we could wait and see if my memory returns. Maybe I'll remember something useful for getting both of us home. The other option is to look for a town or city and see if we can track down a sage or local Wiseman that might have knowledge of magic or know someone that does. Hopefully we can find someone that can help us get home."

Ranma didn't like the idea of waiting around but the second option sounded like a training journey to him. He and the old panda had often sought out forgotten knowledge while on their journeys. "The second option sounds like it's the best to me."

Meren nodded "I agree, there's also the chance that my memory will return on the way so maybe that plan will pan out while we search for a way home."

Ranma wanted to kick himself for not thinking of that. "Of course that's why I picked that one," he lied.

Meren just stared at him, _not only full of himself but a horrible liar._ "Well the sun will be going down soon so I'd suggest we start tomorrow. Besides I still have this headache I want to sleep off. My names Meren Hotan by the way."

"I'm Ranma Saotome." He pointed his thumb at himself. "Of the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts" The effect would have been quite impressive if his stomach hadn't chosen that moment to rumble loudly.

"Nice to meet you Ranma, It sounds like your hungry," she giggled. She reached into the bag at her hip and pulled out a pot, a large water skin, some salted meat and a container of beans. Both youths started as they realized that the meat was the only item removed from the bag that should have been able to fit in there.

"How'd you do that?" Ranma asked trying to figure out if it was something like Mouse's hidden weapons technique.

"Not a clue but I don't feel like trying to figure it out right now. I hope you like field rations and can cook them for yourself, I'm not hungry and I think I'll turn in now." She really hoped the throbbing in her head would be gone by morning.

Ranma being used to cooking on training journeys started to prepare to cook up the meat and beans grateful to have some edible food available. As he prepared a fire he noticed Meren lying down. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked as she wrapped herself in her cloak, "I'm getting some sleep."

"Here?"

Meren lifted her head to look at him, "Do you see anywhere better around here?" She gestured with her hand as if asking for him to point out the convenient inn she had missed in the forest.

"No. I mean aren't you worried, me being here and all?" He was confused because the Akane had made him sleep well away from her the few times they had been camping.

"What? You aren't planning to try something funny while I'm asleep are you?" She really didn't think he was that type but she figured she might be able to rib him a bit.

Ranma jumped back making warding gestures with his hands. "N-no of course not. I'm not a pervert you know!"

Meren chuckled at his discomfort, "then I guess I don't have anything to worry about then do I?" She lay back down but decided it was better safe than sorry. "Either way don't try anything. I'll make sure you live to regret it if you do." With that threat hanging in the air she dozed off.

Ranma shuddered. Even cursed to turn into one he didn't think he would ever understand girls. His stomach rumbled again reminding him of the task at hand and he continued preparing his meal.

Several hours later Meren woke up to find the fire had died and it was quite cold out that night. A quick look around revealed a shivering Ranma lying across the clearing. _ I got him into this I can't have him freezing to death._ With a sigh she got up and walked over to where Ranma was trying to sleep. She threw her cloak over both of them as she lay down next to him.

Ranma jumped up with a start as he felt her next to him. "I didn't do anything honest." He didn't know how he ended up next to her but he expected to be hit at any moment.

"I know that silly, it's a cold night and you'll freeze to death in those cloths. I came over to share this with you." She said holding up the edge of her cloak.

"But … but… we… I mean…" he stammered.

"Look just lie down and keep your hands to yourself and you'll be fine." Seeing his obvious reluctance she decided to explain. "Look first I feel sorry for getting you into this so I can't let you die. Second I think my chances of finding a way home for either of us are better if I keep you alive. This means nothing beyond that and it's not like were going to do anything."

"I still don't think-"

"Good" she interrupted "keep it that way and it should be easier for both of us to survive this night. Now are you going to lie down and get some sleep or do I have to knock you out first for your own good?"

Ranma reluctantly lay down and tried to control his flee response as Meren edged closer so the cloak could cover them both. He did admit it was warmer under the cloak sharing body heat. He just wished he couldn't feel Meren pressed up against his side.

Meren on the other hand had gone right back to sleep long being used to campaigning and having to share body heat with another soldier to survive a cold night. Ranma despite his difficulties dropped off to sleep soon afterwards.

_

* * *

_

_Ranma looked around in confusion as images passed before his eyes. He stopped looking around with a shudder when what he saw did not change as he moved his head. It was if someone had taped a photo in front of his eyes. Reaching up to see if someone had actually taped a photo to his head Ranma made another disturbing discovery. He had no hands, in fact he had no body as far as he could tell, he just was._

_He shuddered again even as he wondered how someone without a body could shudder the scene changed. He could see rolling grassy hills as far as the eye could see stretching out before him. A few trees doted the countryside and a road lead off into the distance. Again his view shifted and he now was looking into a deep forest. "Where am I?" he asked himself._

"_Hello? Is anybody out there?" a girls voice drifted to his disembodied ears but he could not see where it came from. He tried to call out in reply bout could not speak._

_He found himself looking at a castle of gray stone as his view shifted once more. A figure appeared in front of the castle. Despite the clarity of the rest of the image this figure was strangely out of focus. "Where Am I?" the girls voice came once again, this time from the blurred figure before him. "I should know this place, Why cant I remember?"_

_Ranma could hear the depression in the girls voice bout could not say anything. As Ranma's sight faded to blackness he heard the voice call out one last time, "Why am I all alone? So alone…" _

_

* * *

_

_What a weird dream, _Ranma thought as he woke just before sunrise, _and where am I?_ Slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings he realized he was sleeping on the ground in the forest. _Must be a training trip,_ _I wonder why pops hasn't attacked me yet. _Ranma froze as his sleep fogged mind realized that there was a third arm draped over him from behind and there were two soft mounds pressing into his back.

_Oh no is Akane here? Did I crawl into her blankets in the night?_ He carefully slipped out from under the arm hoping to get away before Akane woke up. The instant the arm was no longer touching him he was 20 feet away breathing heavily but glad he got away without waking Akane. _She'd really think I was a pervert if she woke up and saw me._

Glancing back at the sleeping figure he spotted a lock of blond hair. _Wait that's not Akane… oh no._ A few seconds of frantic searching revealed that Akane was no where in sight and could not have seen him sleeping next to another girl. _ Bad enough when Shampoo does that, _it took him several more moments to remember what had happened the day before. _Oh ya Meren was sharing her cloak with me to keep me from freezing last night._

Relieved that he wasn't likely to be hit by either Akane or Meren for waking up next to Meren he began working through a kata to loosen up. _Its not that I'm ungrateful for the blanket but she didn't have to snuggle so close. _Distracted by his thoughts he didn't notice Meren wake up as he moved into a more complicated kata.

Meren was a bit grumpy as she returned to consciousness; she didn't like the fact that the nice warm something she had been curled up against was gone. Slowly stretching she remembered where she was and who she was with. _I hope Ranma didn't freak out waking up next to me_, a smile spread across her face as she recalled how nervous he had been the night before. She didn't understand his trouble, she thought he had some survival training and he should have been used to the fact that it was necessary sometimes to share body heat on a cold night in the wilderness.

Looking around she spotted Ranma practicing a short distance away. _Wow he's good;_ she thought and decided to just observe him for a while. Ranma moved fluidly through his forms with grace that made it look more like a dance. _A skilled fighter and not bad to look at either_ she mused finally noticing just how handsome Ranma really was. _A bit rough around the edges on the personality but he'd still be an excellent catch._

Meren blushed and shook her head when she realized just what she was thinking. It would never work out between them anyway. They were from different worlds and she didn't think either of them could give up on going home to be with the other. _He'd probably think I'm too weird anyway_. As she watched Ranma suddenly leapt twenty feet into the air and hung there longer than should be possible punching and kicking the air all the while.

Meren nearly had to pick her jaw up off the floor. _I didn't think anybody else could do something like that._ She latched onto that thought hoping to find some clue to her past in her memory but she found nothing. _I know I'm a fighter and I guess I'm a good judge of ability;_ she got up wishing she could remember more and walked over to Ranma.

Ranma was just wishing Ryoga would show up to spar with him when his thoughts were interrupted. "You're pretty good." Leaping high into the air he spun looking for who had snuck up on him. He spotted Meren slowly stretching out some kinks in her muscles not far from where he had been standing. _She's good to have snuck up on me like that._ Another thought crossed his mind as he watched her continue to stretch _dang she's flexible._ Some of the stretches Meren was doing were not only amazing feats of flexibility but showed off her curves very nicely.

Ranma shook that thought off _I'm not a pervert_. "Ya I'm the best!" he announced, the confidence in his voice was betrayed by him scratching the back of his head nervously.

Meren raised her eyebrows "Modest too I see. Ok Mr. Best you up for proving your boast? I could use a good spar."

"Umm…" he replied uncertainly. He did want to spar but she was a girl.

"Come on. It'll be fun." Meren prompted as she removed her cloak and un-strapped her scabbard. "I'm better with the sword but I'm no slouch unarmed either."

Ranma finally noticed a line of throwing daggers strapped to the back of the scabbard. _Why does she have those strapped there? Even as flexible as she is there is no way to reach most of those in a fight. _Figuring she wouldn't accept 'I don't fight girls' as an answer he resolved himself to just dodge her until she wore herself out. "Ok I guess…"

Meren readied herself and attacked first when she saw he was prepared. Her first several punches were evaded causally but the counter attack she expected never came. _Ok let's step this up a bit_ she thought. Her punches started raining in faster and she began attempting to kick him as well. He still evaded most of what she threw at him but was now forced to block some as well.

Ranma was concerned about how good Meren was. _She's fast_ he thought as he was forced to block several more punches and barely avoided a leg sweep that would have dropped him on his ass. Still he couldn't fight a girl, she'd just get hurt.

Meren was impressed by Ranma's dodging abilities but was annoyed that he wouldn't fight back. _He's better than this, I'm sure of it, but if I ramp things up too much more I could hurt him badly if he doesn't take me seriously._ "You know normally when two people spar they both attack." She hoped just a little encouragement would get him to fight back.

"But you could get hurt" Ranma pleaded. Didn't she understand that guy's aren't supposed to fight girls?

Meren laughed as she launched another assault trying to throw him off balance. "Don't worry about hurting me, I'm tougher than I look and heal fast."

"But still…"

"Come on you can't prove you're the best if you won't fight back."

"Hey I am the- ooff." Meren managed to snake a blow past his defenses to strike his abdomen. "I am the best I just don't fight girls." He flinched slightly as Meren's face darkened.

"And why the hell not? Not all girls are weak and defenseless." She was not pleased at all. She vaguely new she had faced this problem far too often in the past and that she had never let anyone get away with it before. She wasn't about to start now.

"A martial artist is supposed to protect those weaker than themselves. Girls are supposed to be protected not hurt." He punctuated this remark by leaping over her using a finger on her head as a pivot.

A grin flashed across Meren's face as he flew over, _got ya._

As Ranma traveled through the air he saw the yellow rope around Meren's waist suddenly unravel. _What the-_ the rope suddenly lashed out grabbing his ankle tightly. Meren pitched forward dropping to all fours as she used her tail to snap him back forward. Ranma crashed face first into the ground in front of her before she released him.

"Do I look weak to you?" to drive her point home she grabbed him by the ankle again with her right hand this time lifting him into the air.

Ranma was trying to get a handle on the situation. Not only did this girl have a tail but she was lifting him into the air one handed. His side also ached where she had struck him before, _she hits almost as hard as Ryoga with that right arm of hers._ "No… but… I can't…" he stammered

Meren sighed and dropped him on his head. "You may be good but with a weakness like not being able to fight a girl there is no way you could be called the best."

Ranma rolled over and sat up. "But what am I supposed to do? I can't hit a girl"

"If a girl comes at you fight back! You can use the minimum force necessary to stop the attack if you want. If the girl gets hurt in the process, well she knew the risks when she attacked." Meren was irate; she hated it when men had this sort of attitude.

Ranma didn't know what to say, Meren actually wanted him to hit back? Maybe it was some sort of trick; Akane sometimes told him to fight her but would then threaten that she would hate him if he hit her. What she said did make some sense but he didn't like it. "But still…"

"Look!" she interrupted "if you ever get over this notion that you can't fight me because I'm a girl we can try this again. Until then you're too weak to be worth my time." She turned on her heal and went over to retrieve her gear.

_Weak? She thinks I'm weak?_ Ranma was torn between his desire to prove her wrong and the conditioning his father had driven into him to never fight girls. _I don't want her to think I'm weak,_ he thought, another small voice asked him why he cared but he ignored it. _On the other hand she will think of me as weak unless I fight her which I can't do._ Ranma sat there in that mental loop until the smells of cooking interrupted him.

Meren, after leaving Ranma to his thoughts had retrieved the cooking tools she had lent him the night before. _Good grief he eats a lot_ she thought as she held the empty bag of beans. The bag had contained enough for several meals when she handed it to him. Reaching back into her pouch she retrieved another sack with some more baked beans in it and another package of salted pork.

Lighting a small fire she quickly set the pork and beans simmering over it in the pot. She added in several herbs and spices she found in the pouch as well to add some flavor to the meal and then began examining the apparently bottomless pouch.

From the outside it appeared to be nothing more than a plain leather pouch a bit larger than her splayed hand. Looking inside however she saw a great deal of gear apparently neatly organized inside. She reached in and pulled out a long wooden practice sword from the pouch. At best the hilt of the sword could have been covered by the pouch yet the whole thing vanished inside when she tried to put it back. Looking again she saw it was back in its place and miniaturized despite the fact that she hadn't tried to put it in there.

"Hrmm… Trimirida" she muttered to herself. Her eyes glowed briefly as her irises morphed from green disks to a trio of golden triangles forming a larger one with her pupils filling the gap in the middle. To Meren the world was suddenly awash in different colors and patterns as various forms of energy became visible to her. Focusing on the pouch she could see a magical field overlaying it.

_Interesting it looks like its warping or bending reality at the mouth of the pouch and what's inside._ There was also another field over the pouch that she suspected had something to do with retrieving items from the pouch. She decided to just accept the fact that it worked and not worry about how for the time being. Her eyes returned to normal as she released her magic and she began sorting through the contents of the pouch.

In side she found a couple sets of practice weapons, a bow with a quiver of arrows, several changes of clothing as well as an extra cloak. _ Good I can have Ranma use that tonight._ She pushed aside a small feeling of regret and continued her inventory. She found a good supply of food that she estimated was several weeks worth _well maybe a week at the rate he eats_ she amended ruefully. Inside she also found some camping gear including a small two person tent. She also found…

_What the heck is this doing in there?_ She pulled out a long formal gown made of pale blue silk. The cut of the gown would bare most of her shoulders and reveal a modest but enticing amount of cleavage. _Why do I have something like this in there? It looks like something a princess might wear not a soldier._ She had no doubt that she was a soldier, the gear she had indicated it and it just felt right to her whereas the dress and the thought of wearing it felt foreign.

With a shrug she returned the dress to the pouch. _Who knows maybe it will come in handy if I have to attend a formal ball at a palace or something?_ She wondered where that thought had come from but she noticed the food was almost ready. Pushing thoughts of balls out of her mind she grabbed a tin of hard biscuits from the pouch as well as a couple bowls.

A loud rumble announced the presence of Ranma and his bottomless stomach. "Hungry?" she asked, "Someone as weak as you should eat well to build up strength." That earned a glair from Ranma but he accepted the bowl she offered anyway. Meren wasn't sure if taunting him was a good idea but she intended to break him of the idea that she was a delicate flower to be protected.

Ranma accepted the bowl with a glare, he knew he wasn't weak but it galled to hear her say it anyway. Unfortunately he still hadn't thought of a way to prove he was strong without hitting her. He dug into the food without thinking and was shocked when he realized it was quite good. "This is pretty good, even better than what I made up last night." He commented truthfully

Meren smiled at the compliment, "Glad you like it, here these biscuits go well with it" she tossed him a couple biscuits which he caught with his free hand. "They are a bit hard so you'll have to soak them unle-" she stood agape as he bit right through one and swallowed it. "Unless you have an iron jaw and stomach." She concluded with a shake of the head.

Ranma was devouring his food with abandon. He could eat ALMOST anything but he was grateful it wasn't toxic like Akane's cooking usually was. Some of the meals Ukyo and shampoo had made for him were better but this defiantly beat what he normally cooked for himself. "Whrf ooh ghit alf dif foog?" he asked

"Excuse me?"

Ranma swallowed hard and tried again, "Err I said where'd you get all this food?"

"Oh that." Meren held up the pouch, "This thing seems to have an enchantment on it that makes it bigger inside than outside. I found quite a bit of stuff in there including a good supply of food. It should last for a while but well have to start hunting if we can't find a town soon. What I have wont last long with how much you eat."

"Sarwe" Ranma said around another mouthful of food. Meren just shook her head; most foot-soldiers had better table manners than Ranma did. "So why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and where you come from?" she asked trying to start a conversation.

Ranma had just finished shoving two of the biscuits into his mouth and they were sticking a bit. "Wlph iph phrm ah plaph kahled nrmiph"

Meren chuckled and picked up a water skin with her tail. "Here try swallowing first." She suggested as she tossed the water skin at him. Instead of catching it he seemed to freeze up as the water skin hit him spraying water all over him.

The first odd thing Meren noticed was that Ranma seemed to shrink, and then she noticed that Ranma's hair had changed from black to flaming red. The final thing she noticed was that Ranma now had a rather impressive rack. As she stared at the now soaking wet buxom redhead all she could manage was a rather stupefied sounding "Whaa?" with her mouth hanging open.

_Why does it always have to be water_ Ranma thought dejectedly. She hadn't wanted to tell Meren about the curse but should have known it would come out sooner or later. "Stupid curse" she muttered under her breath. Suddenly she gasped as a finger prodded her right breast

Meren having overcome her initial shock was now trying to figure out what happened. "There real? How'd you do that? I know for sure you were a man a moment ago." Meren peered at the redhead expectantly.

"Yes there real and would you please stop poking me" Meren blushed a bit and nodded apologetically. "And I am a guy this stupid curse changes me into a girl when I get splashed with cold water."

"So it's a curse? Probably magical in origin…" she trailed off a bit looking thoughtful, and then her face brightened as an idea hit her. "Trimirida" she said as her eyes once again transformed and she began examining the curse around her companion.

Ranma backed up startled. "What's going on?"

"Huh?" Meren asked in confusion before remembering the visual change in her eyes. "Oh this? Don't worry about it; this just lets me see various forms of energy among other things. I'm using it too look at your curse." As she looked at the energy surrounding Ranma she marveled at how intricate the spell was. She wasn't sure the curse could be broken short of layering a similar but inverted one over top of it. As to how it worked beyond the obvious she hadn't a clue.

"Well that's the strangest spell I've ever seen, that I can remember anyway, I'm not even sure how it does what it does. I take it there is some way to change you back?"

"Ya hot water changes me back to normal…"

"Well that's simple enough." Meren pulled a kettle out of her pouch and filled it with water before setting it on the fire. "What's wrong?" she asked noticing the dejected look on Ranma's face.

"Go ahead and laugh I know you think I'm a freak!" she burst out figuring it was best to get this over with.

"Why would I think you're a freak?" Meren asked in concern. _What has he…er she… er dang this is confusing. What has Ranma been through to get so worked up about this?_

Ranma stared at her as if she had asked why the sky was blue. "Whatcha mean why? What else would you call a guy that turns into a girl?"

"I'd call it different but why should that bother me? I've got a tail, would you consider that normal?" when Ranma shook her head she continued. "So we're both different that doesn't make us freaks."

Ranma pondered what Meren said for a while until the water got hot enough for her to change back into a he. Some of the people back home had accepted his curse but most of them had similar curses or were just plain weird themselves. Most of those while accepting the curse still found it disconcerting at times. Meren was the first person he had met that had accepted his curse from the moment she found out about it and didn't seem bothered at all.

"Why doesn't this bother you?" he asked.

"Why should it? Look I can't claim to understand what you've been through entirely. Our situations are different but I do know what its like to be shunned for being different. I learned long ago that there is no point in being bothered by someone being different. It just hurts both sides in the end."

Ranma guessed that made sense although he had never had time to think about it before. His life had been pretty chaotic since he fell in that cursed spring and nobody had attempted to spell this out for him.

"Why don't you tell me a bit about what you've been through maybe it will help."

"I don't know some of what I've been through is pretty weird." He replied uncertainly. He didn't want to scare her off with some of what he had been through.

"You don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable about it but I do think it will help. I promise not to laugh or judge you because of what's happened in your past." She honestly wanted to know and help him and not just because it was her fault he was here. It was obvious he had some issues that he needed to work out before something bad happened. _Besides how weird could it be?_

"Ok but don't say I didn't warn you." Ranma proceeded to tell her the short version of his life, which took about an hour. Within five minutes Meren realized just how weird weird could be.

"Ok let me see if I have this strait. First your father has been teaching you martial arts since you could walk. At five he took you from your mother pledging you'd both commit suicide if he didn't return after making you a "Man among Men" whatever that means. He then proceeds to drag you all over the world subjecting you to strange and sometimes dangerous training techniques until he finally dumped you into a cursed spring that changes you into a girl every time you get wet.

Not only that but along the way he arranged marriages for you to nearly every person he met that had something he wanted. Eventually you end up in Nerima, a town full of crazed martial artists, two fiancés that had the strongest claims out of the uncounted arranged marriages, one crazed Amazon that thinks you are her husband and a crazed brother and sister that both want to marry you in one form and kill you in the other. To make maters worse you have a mother running around with a sword that would probably make you kill yourself if she ever discovered your curse." _No wonder he's so messed up_ she thought as she concluded her summery.

"Ya that about sums it up. Still don't feel like laughing?"

"No at the moment I'm more inclined to kick myself for wondering how weird your story could be. How did you survive all that and remain sane?" Ranma only gave a halfhearted shrug for a response. _That father of his should be killed slow and painfully_, she thought.

"Well with my memory the way it is I cant say for sure but I doubt I can top what you've been through. To be honest I can't understand for the life of me why you'd want to go back but I'll do what I can to get you home if that's what you want."

Ranma nodded again but her words made him wonder if going home was really what he wanted. Did he want to go back to a fiancé that hit him more often than not over nothing and a whole pack of crazies that wanted to marry, kill, drug, and carry off, seduce, or take advantage of him, usually several of those at once. "I need some time to think about this. What should we do now?"

"Well we should get moving, we won't find a way home just sitting here. First however…" she stood up and extended her hand to Ranma. "Hi I'm Meren Hotan. I'm a girl with a tail that loves to fight and has strange powers as well as a memory with more holes than a sieve. You wana be friends?"

Ranma looked at the hand like it might bite him. Akane had offered to be friends as well before she had discovered his curse. After that she had always called him a pervert and hit him. _But Meren already knows about the curse and wants to be friends anyway._ After a few moments he took the offered hand as he stood up giving it a firm shake.

"Hi I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm a martial artist, have more weirdness in my past than should be legal and am cursed to turn into a girl when hit with cold water. I'd love to be your friend."

Both of them laughed at their shared weirdness as they shook hands. "Well Ranma, why don't we see about finding a way to get home?"

"OK." He replied as he looked around. "Uh which way should we go?"

"Well were in the middle of nowhere I guess any direction is good. How bout that way?" she suggested pointing off to the west.

"Sounds good to me although I think there's a river to the north."

Meren thought about that for a moment. A river could be a good idea, towns tended to spring up along rivers and they might spot a passing boat. Still she wasn't that fond of water and she guessed Ranma might not be too thrilled with the idea either. She also had a small voice urging her to go west.

"Let's head west for now if we don't find a road, village or some other sign of civilization in a few days well try hitting the river and see if that leads us anywhere."

"Sounds good," Ranma replied as he helped her pack up the cooking gear. Soon they were traveling west at an easy pace occasionally talking, mostly about martial arts techniques. They stopped in a hollow with a stream passing through it around nightfall. The stream formed a small pool not far from their campsite. Meren handed Ranma some more food and the cooking supplies while she setup the tent she had found earlier.

"Where'd you find a tent?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I noticed it in my pouch this morning while I was rummaging through it. Oh I almost forgot, catch." She pulled the spare cloak out of her pouch and tossed it to Ranma. "Neither of us is dressed for the weather here but the cloak helps a lot."

"Thanks" he replied as he caught the cloak and put it on. Glancing at the small tent he asked, "I don't suppose you have another one of those in there?"

"No but this one is big enough to share. Its either that or you can try sleeping on the ground wrapped in that cloak. Considering your girl problems back home I'll understand if you're uncomfortable sharing a tent with me although I'd suggest the tent."

Ranma eyed the tent uncertainly. It was big enough for two if you didn't mind sleeping shoulder to shoulder with the other occupant. "Why are you so casual about this? I'm a guy and you're a…"

"A girl?" she offered. Ranma nodded and Meren shrugged. "I can't say for sure but I'm fairly confident I was in the military in one form or another back home. I suppose I'm used to not having a lot of privacy and being around men."

Ranma nodded, he didn't understand her but he also didn't want to alienate his new friend either. "I guess but are you sure… I mean… well…"

Meren laughed as he tried and failed miserably to say something meaningful. "Look like I said last night don't try anything funny and you'll be fine." Seeing he was still uncomfortable with the concept she changed the subject. "You might want to stir that or it will burn." She commented dryly indicating the cook pot in front of Ranma.

Ranma blushed slightly as he resumed stirring their meal. "You're not like any girl I've ever met you know." He cringed as he realized his mouth had spoken before he thought about the consequences again. He knew that anything even remotely insulting a girl's womanhood was a good way to get hit. Making warding gestures with both hands he tried to explain. "Wait I didn't mean… it's just…" he stammered off as he looked at Meren.

She slowly wiped the food off her face that had been flung from the spoon in Ranma's hands. She stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face for a few moments. Eventually the look of pure horror on Ranma's face did her in as she fell to the ground with side splitting laughter. Ranma just stared dumbly at the fact that she hadn't tried to hit him yet.

"If you snicker really wanted… me to test the food giggle you could have snort just asked…" anything else she wanted to say was lost as her laughter redoubled as Ranma finally got caught up in the situation and joined her. It was several minutes before either could manage to speak.

"Seriously though I don't mind being different from other girls. I am who I am and I won't conform just to be labeled 'Normal'. Who's to say what normal should be anyway." She was just barely maintaining some calm as she suppressed her giggle fit.

Ranma thought about that for a moment without being able to come up with a good answer. "I'm just glad you didn't hit me." He said with a shrug.

"Why would I hit you?"

Ranma couldn't think of a good way to say this so he just spoke his mind and hoped he didn't swallow his foot too badly. "Well its just most girls I know would have hit me for what I said and defiantly would have for throwing food at them." He resigned himself to the fact that most likely she would now come to her senses and pull a giant mallet out of that pouch and smack him.

"Well I thought the food was funny particularly with the expression on your face when you realized what you had done." She had to suppress another fit of laughter at the memory of that before continuing. "As to your comment before that, first I don't mind. You were just saying what's on your mind and while it did lack tact a friend shouldn't hit a friend just for a poor choice of words."

Ranma nodded dully as he tried to process everything she had said. Meren was turning all his notions of how people treated him on their ears and he wasn't sure how to respond.

Meren noticing how lost in thought Ranma was took the spoon from him and finished up the meal preparations. _The poor kid is more like a beaten puppy than a guy. What the heck have those loonies been doing to him?_ She left him alone until she handed him a bowl of the pork and bean stew that they had been eating since they arrived. Food was enough to jolt him back to the present.

"So… Since I'm not like any girl you've ever known does that mean you'll actually fight back if I spar with you tomorrow?"

Ranma nearly sprayed her with food again as he choked on his mouthful. "I don't know. I've always been told that a guy isn't supposed to fight a girl. I don't know if I can change that." He was beginning to feel more comfortable around Meren but he still worried that this would upset her.

He was right it did upset her but she could see his resolve weakening and thought she might break through if she was careful. "Who told you this? Your father?" she asked carefully.

Ranma nodded, "Yes mostly."

"I see so your father and maybe a few others. Now tell me was your father and these others always right?"

Headshake.

"Ok how about the way they treated you. Did you like what they would do to you?"

Another headshake.

"How about how I treat you? I know we got off to a somewhat rocky start but overall do you like how I've treated you today? Particularly after I found out about your curse?"

Ranma nodded dully still unsure where she was taking this. "I guess-"

"Ok" she interrupted not giving him the opportunity to derail the train of reasoning she was following. "Now let's assume that you like how I treat you better is because I treat you the way a friend should treat you and what your father and other "friends" showed you is the wrong way. Is it not possible that some of what they have taught you is wrong?"

Ranma nodded

"Well then is it possible that I may be right when I tell you it's alright to fight a girl if the situation warrants it? I'm not saying you should go out and beat up girls, you shouldn't even do that to guys but if one comes looking for a fight you shouldn't be afraid to fight back."

Once again Ranma found himself nodding as he could find no way to argue with what she was telling him. He knew pops wasn't always right, in fact the old panda was often stupidly wrong, but he had beaten the not fighting girls into Ranma so thoroughly he had never thought to question the concept. "I still don't know about this…" he sighed "I'll try though."

It wasn't perfect but it was a good start. "That's all that I ask. I'm serious about not minding being hit in a sparing match. If I'm hit in a spar and it hurts you can bet I will try to find a way to avoid being hit in the future. In the end a bit of pain in training can save me from a lot of pain in a real fight."

"That does make sense in a way. I can't promise to go all out against you; I just don't think I can bring myself to do that. But I'll try to at least put up a fight." That last was barely a whisper but Meren heard him well enough.

"I understand, if it takes time then it takes time. You're already doing better than you did this morning. I'm sorry for calling you weak but I can't stand it when a man refuses to respect my fighting ability in that manner."

"I can understand that," Ranma said with a chuckle, "I don't like it when someone disrespects my fighting abilities either."

Meren stretched and yawned loudly. "Well now that that is resolved I'm going to get some sleep." She ducked into the tent but her head reappeared a moment later. "As I said before, the tent or the ground, it's your choice and I don't care either way. You will probably find it more comfortable in the tent though." With that she ducked back inside and went to sleep.

Ranma spent a good ten minutes sitting there trying to decide. Everything he knew from his past said this was a bad idea but Meren said it was alright. Finally deciding that Meren often made more sense than what he knew from the past he decided to accept Meren's judgment on the matter.

Ducking inside the tent he saw Meren already asleep wrapped in her cloak to one side of the tent. Apparently she expected him to make this choice as she left plenty of room for him to lie down without disturbing her. Wrapping himself in his own barrowed cloak he laid down and was soon asleep.

* * *

_Ranma was standing at the edge of a small field. A number of young children were running around the field playing various games. The only odd thing about this scene was that there was no color. 'What the heck? Am I dreaming again?' Ranma thought as he looked around._

_Unlike his last dream which had been more like still photographs, this looked more like an old home movie in black and white. Looking down at himself he noted that he at least had a body this time although he was misty and transparent. He just shook his head, all sorts of weird things could happen in a dream._

"_no don't go talk to her! She's a freak." One small child was holding another back._

_Ranma followed their line of sight and spotted a young girl off all alone. She looked to be about ten or eleven and had light colored hair. She appeared to be working on a kata involving two long knives. As she turned Ranma noted that she had a tail yet none of the other children did._

"_ya she's got that creepy tail…."_

"_and look at her ears…"_

"_Ya who ever heard of having ears that short…"_

"_she always plays with those knives of hers too…"_

_Ranma took a closer look at the kids who were talking about the girl behind her back. Their ears were long and pointed sort of like a fairy's while the girl with the tail's looked more normal. A blurry figure moved into Ranma's field of view. Unlike everything else this figure had color although Ranma still could not make out who or what it was._

"_There are few things in life that are crueler than the way children can treat one another." The voice from before said._

_Ranma looked carefully at the blurry figure. He thought it could be a girl but there was no way to tell for sure except for the voice. "What do you mean?" he asked but the figure moved closer to the lone girl without responding. One large boy followed by several others had moved over to confront the girl._

"_You don't look so tough." The bully said._

_The girl continued her kata and did not even look at the boy._

"_Heh you must be deaf too with those small ears of yours." He laughed and his followers laughed with him._

"_Ok you proved you're big and tough. You can talk big and call a lone girl names. Now leave." The girl said flatly still not even bothering to acknowledge the boy's presence._

_This seemed to enrage the bully. "Oh so the freak can talk." He said accompanied by jeers from his goons._

_The girl sighed and sheathed her blades before turning to the boy. "Yes I can talk, I just don't like to talk to people that couldn't catch a clue if it hit them." Ranma flinched at the sound of her voice. If there was any emotion at all it was pure ice._

_The boy looked puzzled for a moment and apparently decided he didn't fall in that category because she was speaking to him. "Well I'm telling ya that your not wanted around here."_

_The girl crossed her arms "if you are trying to pick a fight just get on with it. Your not worth my time."_

"_Why you little… hmph I don't hurt girls even if they are freaks."_

"_fight or leave just make up your mind. I'm tired of listening to that noise coming from that ugly face of yours."_

_The bullies face darkened. "Get her!" he yelled as he charged. The ensuing fight was swift and decisive._

_The girl held the boy up by his shirt as the rest of his goons limped away as fast as they could. "do you feel big and tough now?" she asked flatly. "did this satisfy your need to pick on others? Do you think the others will respect you now? You picked on one girl with five other guys and lost." Her impassionate gaze met the boy's look of pure terror. She dropped him to the ground. "Get out of my sight, coward."_

_The bully scurried away as the other children in the field murmured and looked at the girl. She turned away from them all and resumed her kata._

"_The wounds people inflict on each other can run deep, deeper than you can see." The blurry form of a girl said as she moved around in front of the practicing girl. _

_Ranma followed and looked at the young girls face. Her expression was as hard and emotionless as ever but tears could be seen making their way down her face. "But the boys never landed a hit on her." He said. The figure appeared to not hear him as the world started to fade._

_The girl's voice floated out from the darkness. "Wounds of the heart can cause more pain than wounds of the flesh."_

* * *

The next morning Meren woke up first. She groggily snuggled a bit closer to the warmth next to her. Suddenly her eyes snapped open as her mind returned fully to the waking world. She quickly scooted away from Ranma as she realized she had unconsciously shifted closer to him for warmth in the night. A quick glance reassured her that both were fully clothed. 

_What am I doing_ she thought. For a few moments she took careful stock of how she was feeling before giving a mental sigh of relief. _Good it isn't that time yet. We really need to find another tent or this could get awkward._ Shaking off several thoughts she didn't want to contemplate she decided to take advantage of the nearby pool to clean up.

Some time later Ranma woke up. _What a weird dream_, he thought as he stretched. _Could that have been Meren as a little girl?_ Ranma shook his head, the idea of him seeing Meren's past in his dreams was silly. _Probably was just brought on by what she said last night_,this explanation reassured him a little bit although he still didn't understand why the girl had been crying.

He noted that Meren was gone as he stretched some more. Unfortunately raising his arms over his head revealed an unpleasant odder. Two days with no bath and no change of cloths can do that to a person. He got up resolving to go down to the stream to clean up and forget all about these wacky dreams he was having. He lit a fire and set a kettle warming so he could change back afterwards before heading down to the stream.

Unfortunately Ranma missed the significance of the neatly folded clothing sitting on a rock by some bushes that hid the pool from view. Quickly striping down he stepped around the bushes and froze on the bank of the pool. There to greet him was an equally unclothed Meren just standing up out of the water.

Both stared at each other a moment before Meren glanced down at herself and dropped back into the water with an "Eeep!" "What do you think your doing?" she asked with an icy chill in her voice. Ranma started backing up trying to stammer out an apology. Suddenly Meren brought her hands together and squirted a stream of water at the stammering youth, instant redhead.

"Hey what'd you do that for?" spluttered the now dripping Ranma.

Meren stood back up and strode deliberately past Ranma. "Well since were both girls now I guess it doesn't matter if you walked in on me bathing." Despite her words her tone made it obvious she was somewhat irked anyway.

Meren disappeared around the bushes leaving a stunned Ranma in her wake. _I'll never understand girls_ Ranma thought shaking her head. Deciding it was too late to change what happened she went and took her bath.

Meanwhile back at camp Meren was preparing breakfast and trying to calm herself after the unfortunate encounter. _Good grief how could he miss the fact that I was bathing, do I have to put up a sign?_ _Well can't change the past, he better have liked what he saw though._ Of course Meren wouldn't admit even to herself that she hadn't minded the eyeful she got either.

She quickly took that thought tied it up and beat it with a stick for a while before throwing it into a dark corner of her brain. _ That man is having a bad effect on me._ She thought ruefully as she continued preparing the food. Meren's thoughts turned to the transformation she had witnessed for the second time in as many days. _How can hair that red be natural? And why don't those hurt his back?_ Chalking the second question up to the fact that Ranma probably spent as little time as possible in his female form she tried to forget the whole subject.

Around that time Ranma returned wringing out the shirt she had also cleaned in the stream. Meren shook her head at Ranma's total lack of modesty but decided with just the two of them there it didn't really mater.

"I um… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to peep on you." Ranma finally managed to say.

"What's done is done," Meren commented with a sigh. "I know it was an accident, I figure you're not the type to peep on purpose anyway." A wry grin crossed her face at that last.

"Hey what makes you say that?" Ranma asked indignantly. She wasn't sure but that sounded like a jab at her manhood.

Meren laughed seeing that Ranma had misinterpreted her remark. "Well it's just the fact that why would you need to? All you need to do is splash yourself and stand in front of a mirror to get all the show you want." She waved a hand at the assets Ranma was proudly bearing to the world. "And its obvious you have no modesty," she held up the kettle, "change back before your hurt yourself with those.

Ranma accepted the kettle and changed back to normal before putting his shirt back on. "I really didn't mean to you know" he said once again apologizing. He really didn't want to get his new friend mad at him but this kind of unfortunate situation was all too common in his life.

Meren's heart softened a bit seeing her friend's obvious sorrow. "Look I'm really not that upset by it. At first, maybe a little, but when I think about it I don't have anything you haven't seen before anyway right? Besides you gave me a pretty good show too." She commented slyly before realizing what she said and proceeded to beat those thoughts all over again.

Ranma stared at her like she had just grown a tail, well another one anyway. _Why isn't she mad at me_? He knew from experience any man caught peeping on a naked girl earned a firm beating from that girl and any others in the area weather or not he meant to peep.

"Tell you what if you're still bothered by what happened you can make it up to me by giving me a good workout with our sparing session after breakfast." She offered trying to cheer him up. His tendency to mope and get all introspective was getting on her nerves. She much preferred the confident Ranma over this one. _Guess it is kind of my fault though; I've given him a lot to think about._

Sure enough the mention of a sparing match cheered him up, or maybe it was the mention of breakfast. Either way he was soon devouring his food and shortly thereafter they packed up and found a space to square off against each other.

"Now remember you promised to at least try to fight back," reminded Meren.

"Ya I know." Was the muttered response, he still wasn't happy about this but he had promised.

Once again Meren attacked first coming in much faster than she had the day before. She had no intention of letting him just dodge. She was only giving him the option of block, counterattack or get hurt.

Ranma deflected most of her blows with ease only allowing a few glancing ones to land as he reluctantly struck back although not very hard.

"Come on is that the best you can do? You hit like a… er stuffed pig!" she recovered quickly deciding that saying he hit like a girl might be a bad idea. She was dumbfounded when Ranma gaped at her a moment before nearly splitting his side open with laughter. "Um what did I say? That wasn't supposed to be funny."

"Inside joke snicker..." Ranma took a few more moments to control himself. "You remember how I told you about Ryoga? He's the one back home that constantly gave me a good fight, well he is really strong, it hurts when one of his punches land. Anyway he ahh…" Ranma caught himself before revealing Ryoga's curse "err sorta has a thing for pigs."

Meren still didn't think it was funny. "I guess its one of those 'had to be there' things huh?" If anything the relieved look on Ranma's face confused her even more. "Well if your done laughing can we get back to… what the?"

At that moment about fifty large creatures came into view from around a nearby hill. They were all larger than a man and looked like an experiment gone horribly wrong in splicing men and several animals together. They didn't even all look the same as if whatever had made them hadn't been too particular on what they were combining. They were lead by a man on horseback dressed all in black who had a pale face. There was something disconcerting about the man that neither of the youths could place.

"What are those?" Ranma asked as he examined the new arrivals. To his trained eye the monsters looked strong but relatively unskilled and probably relied on numbers to overwhelm opponents.

"Not a clue, but they don't look friendly." At that moment the man drew a jet black sword pointed it towards the pair. The monsters charged. "Playtimes over." Meren remarked as she retrieved and strapped her sword sheath back on and drew her weapons.

Ranma stepped between her and the advancing monsters. "Stay behind me I can handle this." He hoped he could protect Meren from this many.

"Not on your life!" she replied with a dry laugh. "There's plenty for both of us and I want my half."

_Dang she's serious. I'll just have to beat them quick before they can hurt her._ Ranma suddenly charged strait for the advancing force.

"Hey!" _The fool is going to get hurt running off half cocked like that_. Meren had intended to let the monsters come to her but Ranma wanted to meet them halfway. With a sigh she followed angling to engage the horde slightly to the side of where Ranma was headed.

Both fighters plowed into the monsters full force. Normally two humans would have been overwhelmed by just one or two of these creatures but this situation was anything but normal. Ranma knocked out three of them in the first couple of seconds as he weaved in and out not allowing a blow to come close to him. He was shocked when a quick glance revealed Meren close by scathing through the monsters.

He started to shout a warning as one of the monsters swept a large club at her head from behind. He started to move to intercept but he knew he would be too late. Meren dodged the blow by suddenly dropping down onto all fours as her tail lashed out grabbing hold of the monster behind her. With a grunt she hefted it into the air and swung it about like a flail into the creatures around her.

Ranma froze for a moment as he took in what she was doing. Suddenly Meren flung the captured beast man strait at Ranma. He barely dodged to the side as the large projectile smashed into another beast man that had been about to give him a shoulder level haircut. "Eyes Front!" he heard Meren shout as she once again started slashing anything that came near her, a look at her eyes revealed a golden glow. Heeding her advice he resumed knocking out the monsters that were after him.

Even though these things were obviously trying to kill them Ranma took care not to kill them. He didn't want to kill and was slightly disturbed at how casually Meren was killing those she faced.

Meren had already killed almost half of the monsters before she noticed the man on horseback advancing on her. She wasn't sure why Ranma was sparing those after him but he seemed to be holding his own and she had other things to worry about. Ducking a blow she pivoted around one hawk beaked monster, hamstringing it with her dagger then spinning to decapitate it with her sword as it fell. She finished her spin to block the man's black blade with her own.

As the black man swung his sword again she sidestepped and slashed low with her sword cleaving through the horses front legs spilling the man to the ground. He flowed to his feet in an instant and Meren shivered as she got her first good look at the man's face. It was pale as a ghost and the man had no eyes. Apparently his lack of eyes did not affect his ability to see as his sword blows were well aimed.

_This thing attacks like a snake_ she thought as she rapidly parried blows with both blades. Going on the offensive she became a whirlwind of flashing steel as she slashed with both blades in seeming wild abandon. The thing she was facing was good. It had managed to turn aside the sword blows but black blood oozed from numerous gashes from her knife.

Finally seeing an opening she tried the same trick she had used on the last monster. Hamstringing the black man she reversed and cleanly removed his head as he fell to his knees. She nearly lost her own as the things sword arm blindly flailed at her. "What is this thing!" she hollered as she removed the arm with another aimed stroke. The thing continued to try and strike her with its remaining limbs as she continued to slash at it. It didn't stop moving until she had completely dismembered it.

Finally taking a look around she saw that all of the remaining monsters and some of the ones Ranma had merely beaten unconscious were thrashing convulsively. "What happened?" she asked Ranma

"Don't know when you removed that guys head they all started doing this." He said waving an open hand at the dieing monsters.

"Herm" she said rubbing her chin. "The must have been linked to the guy in black somehow, I was wondering what that energy field was for. Maybe that's how he controlled them although it's a risky move since you can take out the whole force by killing him."

"About that, how could you kill them like that? I know they were monsters and all but we could have just knocked them out and left them."

"And wait for them to wake up and come after us again? In our sleep next time perhaps?" she responded tartly.

The conviction in her voice startled Ranma. Her words made sense but he still thought it was wrong to kill. "Still didn't hafta..." he muttered

"Look I'm not too keen on killing either and I don't when I have a choice. I wont however leave an enemy alive if its going to come back to kill me again later. This isn't a game, you can't expect all your enemies to merely beat you unconscious and then leave you to recover and come back for more."

That struck home for Ranma. He thought back to all the wild and crazy fights he had over the last few months. Invariably both combatants left alive although badly beaten. It hadn't just been Ranma sparing his opponents either. Several times he had been beaten badly and while he did recover and win in a rematch his opponents could have killed him the first time if they chose too. _Have I been treating fights as one big game all this time?_

Resolving himself to think long and hard about this he started to reply "I-"

"Shhh!" Meren hissed holding up her hand as she stared off to the southwest. "Listen."

Ranma strained to hear and picked up the sounds of horns in the distance. "What is it? More of these things?"

Meren nodded grimly as she scanned back and forth across the country side. "A lot of them."

"How can you see them? Do those eyes give you X-ray vision?" he asked. He had heard about that sort of thing in a few comic books.

Meren turned to peer at him quizzically. "Give me what?"

"X-ray vision, you know the ability to see through solid objects."

"Oh" she replied turning back to the southwest. "No I can't see through things, not really anyway. The energy aura that all living begins put out is visible to some extent though, that's what I'm looking at."

"So you can see auras from a long way off eh? How far away?"

"Depends on what is putting it off." She explained absently. "You for example have an extremely strong aura, from all your training most likely; I could probably spot you from twenty miles even through this terrain. The hills mute the auras a bit although even with that I could spot a normal person at about five miles or so."

_Wow that must be useful_ Ranma thought to himself. "So what do you see?"

"There are about four hundred of those things spread out in a line about five miles west southwest from here. They are heading east and there are prongs of around two hundred apiece forming the walls of a box to the north and south. There's another two to three hundred directly south of us. I also see a small group of 8 or so in the middle. It looks like those monsters are attempting to drive and trap the group in the middle."

As if on cue horns sounded to the south, they were very close. "How close are the two sides closest to us and the group in the middle?"

"The east wall is about a mile south of us the northern one about two southwest." Meren frowned "the group in the middle just turned north there about a mile from the wall in front of them."

"We've got to help them. There's no way eight people could take on that many of those monsters." Ranma said with determination.

Meren laughed, "why not the two of us just took on fifty or so."

"How can you say that? Are you saying we should abandon them?" Ranma couldn't believe what he was hearing. Meren seemed so nice but that sounded as cold hearted as Nabiki.

"No I'm just pointing out that the odds in front of them aren't any worse than what we faced. Come on I think we can get there just before they do if we move now." Meren dashed off to the southwest.

A flabbergasted Ranma followed, _I'll never understand her._

_

* * *

_

Ten minutes later the two were crouched low in some shrubs toping a hill. To the south was a long line of those monsters and two of the black clothed swordsmen. The small party should be appearing over the next hill any moment now. Meren glanced at the dripping redhead next to her "How can it rain out of a cloudless sky for a few seconds drenching you and not even getting me wet at all?"

"Welcome to my life" Ranma muttered grumpily "This curse tends to make me a water magnet. Could you call me Ranko in front of others when I'm in this form? I'd rather not have to explain my curse to others."

"If that's what you want although I don't think it's really necessary for you to hide your curse. You are who you are there's no reason to hide it." She replied

"Oh so that's why you wear your tail around your waist most of the time?"

"Touché, mostly its cause people freak out when they see it. Here they come." Sure enough five men and three women toped the rise and paused for a moment as they spotted the creatures before them. Three of the men and two of the women looked to be around the same age or slightly older than Meren and Ranma. One man was fairly old but held himself like a much younger man. The last woman Meren couldn't put an age too at all. The last man was a slightly graying mountain of a man who instantly drew a sword and charged his warhorse down the hill.

"Oh boy that big man is the only one who knows how to fight decently." Meren said with a bit of dismay, it was going to be tough to protect that many inexperienced fighters. "Lets move!" both she and Ranma bounded down the hill coming up on the monsters from behind. Seeing the large man headed towards one of the eyeless men Meren headed for the second. "Cover the others as best you can I'll take the other black one."

Both fighters plowed into the rear of the line creating a great deal of confusion among the creatures. Meren tried to decapitate her target immediately but the commotion caught its attention and it managed to parry her strike. Meanwhile Ranma made a beeline for the girls picking off several of the monsters that got too close. She had to duck as the ageless woman swung her staff at a monster that promptly burst into flames. Deciding to stay out of reach of that woman just in case she circled the girls knocking out monsters as she went.

Meren was engaged in a pitched battle with the eyeless man in front of her. A space opened around the two combatants as the other monsters tried to avoid them. She noted that a similar opening had formed around the other two men in their duel. _This is taking too long_ she thought as she looked for an opening to finish this fight.

Ranma noticed almost too late that the monsters were attempting to dismount the boys a short distance from her. "Moko Takabisha!" she yelled firing a large blue-white ball of energy from her hands that bowled over a number of monsters in its path. She quickly fired a second shot on the other side of the boys clearing the monsters on that side and giving them some breathing space.

_There! _ Meren thought as she leapt over a blow and kicked off her opponents head forcing him to regain his balance or fall out of his seat. Meren landed just out of reach and seeing a clear line of fire sheathed her knife and charged her sword. The blade of the sword glowed with a golden light as she held it behind her preparing her attack. "Hotan Striker Barrage!" she yelled as she unleashed a flurry of strikes at her opponent. Each slash was marked by a glowing energy trail that extended well beyond the end of her swords reach. Her opponent was good, he actually managed to block two blows, unfortunately there were eight total. The black clothed man, his horse and several of the monsters in a line behind him fell apart in neat chunks.

Glancing around her saw the monsters falling down screaming all over. A few seconds later the other man succeeded in relieving some weight from the other black cloaked fellow's shoulders and the remaining monsters also began to drop. The large man took one long look at her as if deciding if she where a threat before riding over to the other girls. He shouted something Meren couldn't understand before racing off northward. One of the young girls shouted at him but he ignored her.

A tall young man with reddish hair rode over and attempted to pull her up behind him in the saddle. She brushed him off, the horse would be slower with two and she could keep up on foot. She saw Ranma give a broad shouldered young man with blond hair the same treatment. Both girls took off running after the others as the startled men galloped to catch up.

"Ranko can you understand what they are saying?" Meren asked on the run.

"No it sounds like English but I never really paid attention in those classes." She replied mournfully before perking up. "Hey can you do that glowy forehead thingy again?"

"Do what?"

"You know that thing you did when we first met. There was a glow from your forehead, I think I saw a symbol there, when it happened you doubled over in pain and then you could understand me. Can you do that again with them?" she explained.

Meren thought about that for a moment before shaking her head. "I almost forgot about that happening. I have no idea what I did or how to repeat it. Well just have to hope it happens again I guess."

Both girls kept pace with the mounted party easily. This feat earned odd and alarmed glances from most of the riders. Meren glanced over her shoulder "Rashnik" she swore, "There's a bunch of those things gaining on us." A few moments later as the party toped a hill a black mass swarmed over the top of the hill behind them.

"Why are we stopping?" Ranma asked as everybody halted and the ageless woman dismounted and retrieved an item from her pouch.

"Shhh" Meren shushed her friend as she watched the other woman in fascination. To her eyes a flare of energy surrounded the woman and lines of power flowed out and began weaving themselves together like a rug. "She's a mage of some sort." She whispered in fascination as the woman stabbed the ground with her staff and the earth trembled and rung like a gong.

For a few moments the earth quaked violently knocking the monsters down but the black men with them pressed on. The woman spread her hands suddenly and a wall of fire sprang up in front of the men and stretching out to the horizon. The woman visibly sagged as she completed her spell; it had taking a lot out of her.

Everybody watched for a moment as the black riders tried to force their way through the wall. Most were stopped but several got through badly singed but still alive and deadly. A look of grim determination appeared on the woman's face as she prepared to try something else. _With how much that took out of her another spell might kill her_ Meren thought as she stepped in front of the woman.

She spread her arms out from her sides with her hands splayed. On her forehead and the back of each hand a symbol flared to life, three golden triangles forming a larger one. Light flared from the matching symbols in her eyes as her power gathered. "Mimic!" she hollered as she reared back then pouched the ground with her right fist. Again the ground rang and quaked this time in a much more focused manner concentrating on the lone riders. With a sweeping motion of her arms a ring of fire circled the riders who had made it through, not as wide as the first wall but much thicker and baring the riders from advancing or retreating.

Meren sagged to one knee as the power left her. _No wonder that mage looked tired, that took a lot out of me._ Ranma silently moved over to help her to her feet as the large man helped steady the mage.

Moiraine was shocked at what the blond haired girl had done. Moiraine had seen the weaves and they were virtually identical to the ones she had just preformed but they felt subtlety different in a way she couldn't place. She also couldn't feel the girl channeling when she did it. She would get to the bottom of this later when there was time. She noted that the blonde screamed in pain clutching her head for a moment as Lan told the others to get moving. A moment later she touched her forehead to the other girls who also grimaced for a moment before both moved to follow.

"That hurt you know" the irate redhead commented as she helped her friend keep up.

"Sorry Ranko it just happened and I reacted. I should have warned you but I didn't know that would happen. At least we can understand them now." Sure enough they both heard the mage say something about not being strongest when working with earth and fire. The two followed in silence for a time as the party made its way through the hills. Meren was grateful for the slowed pace as she wasn't sure if she could maintain one much faster without resting for a bit.

"What was that you did back there anyway?" Ranma asked after a while.

"The quake and the fire?" Ranma nodded "well I pretty much copied what that mage did, I just tweaked it a bit to adjust the area it affected."

Ranma looked at her in askance, "That was obvious I meant how?"

Meren smirked a bit and taped a finger next to her eyes. "Remember how I said the Trimirida allowed me to see energy among other things? Well one of those other things involves copying things I see. This includes spells although my own powers fuel the spell instead of whatever the original caster used. It only works once though, I have to see it again to copy it a second time."

"So those marks that appear, do they have something to do with your powers?"

"Yes they become visible when I draw on my power…" she trailed off as she tried to piece together her fragmented memories. There should be more there she was sure of it, other powers she could use but the memories were dust in the wind. "… I don't remember much else unfortunately."

Ranma patted her friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry I'm sure you'll remember eventually."

Meren was grateful for the support and the comforting words and nodded her appreciation. "We may be in luck though, that woman seems to be a mage of this world. Her kind often has knowledge of the type well need to get home. If nothing else she may be able to point us in the right direction."

Ranma perked up a bit at that "Let's go ask her" she said moving off but Meren held her back.

"Not yet I can tell she is as tired as I am. Shell be looking for a place to rest soon, we can talk then. Besides those monsters will be after us again soon we need a safe place to hide."

Seeing the logic in that Ranma nodded and the followed in silence once more as the hills slowly leveled out. Eventually the man in the lead called a halt and moved off to one side with the mage. The two were engaged in a somewhat heated discussion. The rest of the party moved towards the two girls.

"Are you alright?" asked the tall man from before.

"I'm fine just a bit tired." Meren replied

"What are you two doing out here and where did you learn to fight like that?" This was from the older man.

"We ahh…" Ranma scratched the back of her head. "Were sort of lost actually we saw you were in trouble and decided to help out." It was true enough, they were lost on a different planet but she wasn't sure how much to reveal yet.

"Are you two Aes Sedai?" this was from the younger of the two girls

Ranma and Meren looked at each other before replying in unison "What?"

"Aes Sedai like Moiraine Sedai" she elaborated gesturing towards the mage.

Ranma was still confused but Meren caught on. "Is that what you call magic users here? If so I guess you could describe me like that although I've never heard of Aes Sedai before."

"I'd be careful girl," warned the old man "Aes Sedai does not take lightly to anybody claiming to be one of them that isn't."

"Then don't call me that, I don't care one way or another. As I said I've never heard of them before."

"How could you not have heard of the Aes Sedai?"

Meren shrugged. "I intend to discuss that with… Moiraine you said? Anyway I intend to discuss that with her later. For now it is enough that we are not from around here and I don't feel like explaining this twice. I really am quite tired right now so if you don't mind holding your questions until later…" it was obvious they weren't satisfied but they did stop asking her questions. "Oh I'm Meren Hotan and my friend here is Ranko Saotome.

Introductions were made all around, the old man was Thom, the tall one was Rand, broad shouldered was named Perrin while the remaining boy was Mat. The girls were introduced as Egwene and Nynaeve and the large man with Moiraine they were told was Lan. "Nice to meet you all" both girls said.

As Lan and Moiraine returned to the rest of the party horns could be heard to the south. Meren's eyes shifted again for a moment earning startled comments that she ignored. "The fires have died down; those beast men are coming again."

"They're called Trollocs" commented Lan before turning to Moiraine "You are not strong enough for what you intend without rest and neither Trolloc nor Myrddraal will enter that place."

Moiraine looked to Meren, "Could you do what you did before again?"

Meren shook her head "No the pattern is gone I would have to see it again and I think I'm too tired to repeat that anyway."

Moiraine sighed "Very well gather round everybody. Closer." As the party gathered in close she swung her staff over all their heads several times before pointing it off to the west kicking up a light breeze. "There, to the trollocs our trail will seem to follow that."

"Your staff is very powerful" commented Egwene.

"I told you child things do not have power. The one power comes from the True Source and only a living mind can wield it, this is merely an aid to concentration. Lan?" with a gesture Lan took the lead.

"Follow and stay quiet, the deception will do no good if the Trollocs hear us." The party followed Lan for some time before a crumbling city came into view. Moiraine explained a bit about the city but Meren was too tired to listen and Ranma simply wasn't paying attention.

"What Name" they heard Mat ask.

"It is called Shadar Logoth." Moiraine replied as they entered the city.

Meren wasn't sure what it was but this city filled her with a sense of foreboding. Something bad was going to happen and this city was a part of it.

_to be continued..._

* * *

I'd love to know what people think about this so far. If you want to contact me directly you can send mail to my hotmail box under the name Merendel. Put the word Hotan in the subject line somewhere to ensure it gets past my junk mail filter. 

More chapters will follow shortly and I intend to take this all the way through the WOT series.

If you like this story please review. If you don't like this story and want to give constructive feed back please review. If you don't like this story and want to flame me "Roni nar rashnik shnee tassha!" I leave it to your imagination to figure that one out.


	3. A Journey begins

I figured I'd go ahead and post this since people seemed to be enjoying the story so far. Just remember updates will slow down after chapter 5 as I'll actually have to start writing instead of just tweaking scenes till I like them. That and I wont be writing much till I finish reading book 11 and rereading book 2 and part of 3. Agian this hasn't been profread by anybody but me so sorry if there's any oddities.

Quick note on what various text types mean:  
_Italics are direct thoughts or dreams.  
Thoughts in dreams 'look like this'._  
>This is someone speaking a language that not all present understand.> (stupid site strips out the open bracket so I have to use two close ones.)

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, situations not mine, yada yada yada. Go read the prologue's disclaimer it still applys. (insert pithy comment here)

* * *

Time and a Half. Chapter 2, A Journey begins 

The party slowly made their way through the ruins of Shadar Logoth. Ranma had never seen architecture of this type before. She idly wondered how long the city had been abandoned. Stone usually took a long time to show as much wear as was visible. Her thoughts were interrupted as she had to keep Meren from falling when she stumbled. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," she mumbled "just need sleep…" her words trailed off as she focused on placing one foot in front of the other.

Ranma was growing more concerned about her friend and was about to offer to carry her when Lan stopped the party in front of a large white building. The upper stories appeared to have decayed into a hollow shell but the ground floor looked as if it would be adequate shelter for the night. Lan carried Moiraine into the building after ordering the boys to see to the horses as the other girls followed. With only a moments of hesitation Ranma led Meren through the doorway into the large room beyond.

Ranma gasped as she saw how big the room was. the Tendo residence was spacious by the standards of Tokyo but it had nothing on this room. The house and most of the dojo would have fit inside this room alone. Leading Meren to a wall near where Lan, Nynaeve and Moiraine were having a heated discussion she helped her companion down. "Should we talk to the mage now?"

>No> Meren said switching to Japanese. >She looks as tired as I am, we can discuss the situation after we have both rested. And speak in Japanese for now.>

>Ok… why?> Ranma asked slightly confused, she didn't mind speaking in her native language but there didn't seem to be much point as the others couldn't understand it.

>For now I think its best we keep some of our secrets. I don't think we are in any danger from these people but we know nothing about them and I do not trust them fully… yet.> Meren leaned back with her eyes closed. >It might be best if you let me do most of the talking, particularly with Moiraine. Her type can get you to say more than you intend if you are not careful. Just try not to talk too much about our situation or where were from until I wake up.>

At this point Nynaeve approached the two of them. "How are you two feeling?" she asked.

"I'm fine and Meren here is just tired." Ranma replied.

She nodded as she knelt besides Meren, "I just gave the Aes Sedai some herbal tea to help her sleep, do you need some as well?"

Meren shook her head, "No just a few moments of peace and I'll be asleep. I also don't want to take anything that could interfere with me waking up should it be necessary. Give me twenty minutes and I'll be able to run a horse into the ground although a couple hours would be best if we need to fight."

Nynaeve gave the blond a dubious look obviously not believing the boast but she wasn't about to force her help on an unwilling patient that could do well enough alone. "Very well but if you need something be sure to tell me. I'm the Wisdom of my village and can cure most ailments with my cures."

"Will do Doc," Meren gave a weak salute as she replied before turning to Ranma. >Remember be careful what you say particularly with Lan or Moiraine.> Yawning loudly she drew her cloak around her and was asleep in seconds.

"She really was tired," Nynaeve observed, "What was that last she said?"

"Oh nothing important," she lied, if Meren wanted to hide what she said then Ranma wasn't going to tell either.

Nynaeve appraised the young redhead. She couldn't say much for the way the girl was dressed. The clothing was foreign in appearance but was obviously men's clothing, they were also several sizes too large. She was however pleased to see her hair done up in an appropriate if somewhat short braid. "We should let her rest, she is obviously tired. I cant believe those men making two girls walk." She ranted as she walked away giving her braid a jerk.

Ranma lacking anything better to do at the moment followed. "Well they did try to pull us up onto their horses after the fight, we just prefer to run." Ranma heard Nynaeve mutter something that sounded like Unladylike and inappropriate but couldn't make out much else. They both sat down near a small fire that Lan had started near the other girl, Egwene, Ranma thought she was called.

"So you can channel too?" Egwene asked Ranma trying to strike up a conversation.

"I can what?" a confused Ranma replied.

"Channel the one power like Moiraine Sedai. I saw you throw those balls of light at the trollocs back there."

"Oh that was the Moko Takabisha. It's a Ki blast not magic. I'm a martial artist and that's something anybody could learn to do with enough training." Ranma felt this was a safe enough subject as they weren't talking about anything Meren had warned her about.

"An artist? Like a painter?" Egwene asked dubiously, she had never heard of an artist that could do that.

"No like a fighter" _is she that clueless?_

"Oh so what you did wasn't channeling?"

"No its basically taking life energy and throwing it at your target." She wasn't sure what Egwene's fixation on Channeling was, Ranma was a fighter not a magician.

Nynaeve sniffed "Women shouldn't be fighting. That's mans work and one of the few things they have the brains for."

"Hey! I'm a g… er good fighter, I've been training since I could walk." Ranma barely covered her slip, she didn't want to have to explain her curse. Hopefully Meren would get the information they needed and get them home before THAT had to come to light.

"Its still not appropriate."

"Geez you sound like my mother." Ranma commented crossing her arms. She had only met her mother in female form and she hadn't liked seeing 'Ranko' fight either.

"Then maybe you should have listened better. Fighting and running around in men's clothing" she scoffed. "A woman should be dressed in proper skirts." Nynaeve was shaking a finger at Ranma.

Ranma laughed, "Ever tried fighting or even running in those things? How you take three steps without tripping is beyond me."

"Quiet, Moiraine Sedai is trying to sleep." The gruff voice of Lan broke into the conversation that was getting a bit loud. Ranma blushed while Nynaeve yanked on her braid muttering all the while and clearly wanting to give 'Ranko' a few more pieces of her mind.

Ranma thinking now would probably be a good time to leave quickly stood up. "I think I'm going to go get some rest too." And quickly scurried back over to where Meren was sleeping. Sitting next to Meren she wondered if all girls were strange as she dozed off into a light sleep.

* * *

Some time later both girls woke to the sound of "Where have those boys run off to?" 

"What happened?" Meren asked instantly forcing herself awake.

"Mat Rand and Perrin seem to have gone off exploring." Thom explained.

"We are safe here thanks to the wards I have put in place however there is a good reason the trollocs will not enter here. There are dangers here that even they are afraid of." A hint of concern was bleeding through Moiraine's serene features.

"I'll look for them, Trimirida." Meren's eyes changed and she immediately frowned. "What is with this place?" she wondered aloud.

"You didn't expect to see them from here did you?" Moiraine asked still showing little emotion but apparently deciding now was the time to discover more about the two strange girls they had picked up.

"Actually I did. Not physically of course I cant see through walls any more than you can. I should be able to see their life aura though. Its as if there is a lot of ambient life energy in this city and it is washing everything else out." Even with her patchy memories she knew that this was not normal, the city would have to almost be alive for an effect like this.

"So normally you should be able to locate them through this Life Aura even through walls?"

Meren nodded "Yes I can see many different forms of energy with these eyes, some of them don't require line of sight. Its actually how we spotted you being chased by the trollocs. I don't know what could be blocking me like this unless the city was alive." She shook her head a bit at the absurdity of that concept.

"Perhaps… Never the less Lan will find them, he is out looking now."

"Should we help him? What is it about this city that is so dangerous?" Meren cocked her head taking another glance around. "And what's that dome around the building?"

"So you can see my ward. It will protect us from the evil that lurks here. During the day it is safe enough in the streets but after nightfall it is too dangerous. There is no sense risking more people out searching and your sword will be no use against this."

Meren wasn't so sure, she knew how to take care of herself but she also knew that she was not fully rested and her defenses were defiantly not what they should be. Finally she nodded "very well, since we are both awake now I suppose we should talk."

"That would be best. Tell me child how long have you been channeling?"

"I can not. Or at least not the way you do."

Moiraine gave a knowledgeable smile. "On the contrary I can sense the ability in you and your companion and I saw what you both did."

Meren smirked a bit, maybe she was telling the truth about sensing the ability but Meren knew she was fishing. _Ok I'll bite this time_. "Neither what I did nor what Ranko did was channeling unless channeling is just your word for magic in which case perhaps I did."

Moiraine shook her head. "Channeling is not magic, by weaving flows of the One Power we can create effects that could seem to be magic to the untrained but are not."

Meren nodded "That explains why it looked like a tapestry being created. Either way that defiantly isn't what Ranko did. She fired a Ki blast, its done by projecting ones own life energy into a tangible form. I'm actually impressed that she can do it, I know the theory but can not do it myself. As to what I did I copied the pattern of your spell but I fueled it with my own power." To demonstrate she held up her hand and forced the symbol there to become visible. "This is the physical representation of my connection to the power I was accessing. If I can tap into the same power source you use I am unaware of it."

Moiraine nodded in understanding, this explained why she couldn't see Ranko channeling and why Meren's felt strange. "Never the less you both can channel and I would strongly suggest you go to Tar Valon for training. You will start to channel on your own soon enough and without a teacher one in four women die."

"I thank you for your warning and will consider your offer but at the moment Ranko and I just wish to go home." _Ok let's see where she goes with that._

"Running to your home will not save you child. Even there you will begin to channel and the danger will still remain. Your best chance at survival lies at Tar Valon and training with the Aes Sedai."

_Ahh so she really wants to get women who can channel to join her group, probably curious about my powers as well._ She conceded that it was possible that her and Ranko's safety was Moiraine's concern but she doubted if that was all. "Perhaps but where we are from nobody has ever heard of channeling or Aes Sedai. I suspect that at our homes channeling is not possible and therefore not a danger to us."

"Unless you live in a Stedding you will be able to channel no mater where in this world you live."

_Ok lets she how she reacts to this. _"And if we aren't from this world?"

Meren smiled as a brief flicker of confusion broke through Moiraine's calm demeanor "What do you mean?"

"As near as I can tell we are not from this world. An accident of some sort transported me to this world and left me without many of my memories. Ranko unfortunately got dragged here with me, she is from a world different from my own as well. We were hoping you may have some information on how we could get home or know where to send us to find it." _Well cards are on the table lets see what she does._

Moiraine remained doubtful. "So you claim that you are lost travelers from another world and you happened to be near us and you came and helped us on the off chance that we would have the knowledge you seek. This all sounds rather convenient to me."

_Good she's cautious, _Meren thought relieved that she was reading the Aes Sedai correctly so far. "You are partially right. We travelers from another world no mater how unwilling and we do need help finding a way home. And we did happen to land near you when we arrived a few days ago. However we didn't help you just on the off chance you could help us. We were attacked by trollocs and then discovered more of them herding you and we decided to help."

"You would willingly help total strangers by rushing into a group of hundreds of Trollocs?"

"Why not? Ranko and I took out a group of fifty rather handily."

"You what?" was the chorus from the other two girls and thom.

"We took out fifty trollocs and one of those eyeless men. I then saw more of them after a group, if they are willing to randomly attack me then they are my enemy. And an enemy of my enemy is a potential friend. The fact that you were a Mage was a coincidence. We had intended to seek out a local magic user or other Wiseman to attempt to get home. My instincts are telling me that someone like you might have the knowledge we need."

"Aes Sedai are not Mages. We do not work magic although we do keep the most extensive libraries of this age." Moiraine appeared upset by the repeated claim that Aes Sedai were the same as Mages.

Meren smirked a bit, that was all the information she needed. "Then my original assessment was correct. You do possess knowledge of the type we seek or at least know a place where we can look. I suppose I would have to go to Tar Valon to get this information hmm?"

Moiraine was not pleased with the self satisfied grin on Meren's face although this could still lead to them entering the tower. Both girls had the potential to be strong, too strong to pass up and if their story was even partially true a great many at the tower would want to speak to them. "You are correct."

"Then I guess Tar Valon is our next destination. Would you mind telling me what you can about channeling and Aes Sedai?" Meren had what she wanted and figured it was a fair trade for helping them but wouldn't turn down other information if this Aes Sedai was willing to offer it.

"You truly know nothing of the Aes Sedai?" Moiraine asked. When both Meren and Ranko shook their heads she proceeded to explain about the power and the Aes Sedai. Meren filed the information away for later reference. She didn't think she was all that interested in becoming an Aes Sedai herself but learning to channel could be useful. A different thought was running through Ranma's mind.

"Um what about men who can channel?" she asked a bit nervously.

"The male half of the source is tainted by the dark one. All men who can channel go mad and die. Aes Sedai hunt down Male chandlers and gentle them, cutting them off from the source so they cannot themselves or others." Moiraine was curious as to why Ranko paled a bit at that information but was distracted by the boys piling into the room. She began to scold them for their recklessness as Meren pulled Ranma aside

>Whatever you do don't change back in front of her> she warned in Japanese.

>No kidding, I don't want to know what's involved in gentling.> Ranma shuddered as several worse case scenarios involving cutting things off ran through her mind. >I may not have a choice though, hot water can seek me out at bad times too.> Ranma was glad that she had decided to hide her curse from the others.

>Ok I'll do what I can to keep that from happening. And don't worry too much about what she said. I get the feeling that she can only sense a female that can channel. While you're a girl there's a good chance you are only able to touch the female side, its possible your male form cant channel and your safe.>

Ranma wasn't all that reassured >That's easy for you to say you're not the one with madness looming over your head.>

>Well if you stay a girl till we find a way home your safe.>

>But I'm a guy I don't want to spend any more time as a girl than I have to. And what if we are stuck here?>

Meren didn't have a good answer. >Well have to deal with that IF it comes to that. Until then there is no point in getting worked up. She hoped the words sounded less hollow than they felt.>

"What are you two talking about over there?" said Nynaeve interrupting their conversation.

"That is between us, if I had wanted you to know I would have spoken in your language so you could eavesdrop." Meren replied tersely.

"I was _not_ trying to eavesdrop!" Nynaeve shouted while yanking her braid at Meren.

Meren pinched her nose and sighed, _maybe its best I don't alienate these people too much._ "We have just gotten a lot of information we needed to discuss. Because this directly affects both our futures we needed to decide what too do but we want the decision to be private. I think you can understand with the two of us being stuck in a place that is strange to us how we would want to stick together."

The explanation seemed to placate the girl but she still walked off muttering and yanking that silly braid of hers. _You'd think she would pull her hair out by the roots with how much she does that._

Over the next hour Meren had a few quiet conversations with many of the other members of the party. Egwene seemed in awe of the Aes Sedai and wanted to be one of them. Nynaeve hated her with a passion for interfering with her village and dragging the others off. Thom wouldn't say exactly what he felt but he painted a picture that said the Aes Sedai were not to be trusted despite the Three Oaths. The boys ranged from fear to awe to respect in varying degrees but seemed to have no real knowledge aside from what village stories would provide.

After a while she decided that Tar Valon was the place they needed to go but she defiantly was going to be cautious around Aes Sedai. There was too much left unsaid. After discussing her findings with Ranma they both decided to get what rest they could.

* * *

Hours later Lan appeared and informed them that there were trollocs and halfmen in the city and they had to leave. 

"Why don't we just fight them?" asked Ranma. She wasn't one to run from a fight.

"That would require the power to hold them off and that would destroy the wards, attract the very thing the wards are meant to protect us from and attract every halfman within twenty miles. To leave is not my choice but we are the hare, and the hounds dictate the chase." Explained Moiraine.

"Well if we could find a more defensible location Ranko and I could probably hold off an army of those things." Meren commented, despite her words she was concerned by her inability to see where the trollocs where. The energy blocking her sight was still there although it now had a malevolent feel and seemed to be stronger in areas.

"No we will use my original plan, which I can carry out now that I am rested." Moiraine proceeded to explain the plan of crossing the river to escape. "Get to your horses, we are not across the river yet."

"But what about Meren and Ranko? They don't have horses." Cried Rand.

Both girls laughed. "Don't worry about us, we could run all your horses into the ground and keep going for hours if necessary." Meren wasn't about to ride a horse when her own feet could serve her better.

The party left quickly and all went well until the grey mist of Mashadar blocked their path separating the party. Even this hadn't been too bad until they had run into the trollocs. Meren and Ranma being the only fighters in the group engaged to protect the others but while they were fighting everybody else vanished.

"Can you find them?" Ranma asked trying in vain to stretch her Ki senses to detect them.

Meren shook her head in frustration. "This blasted city is blocking everything. I can barely see your aura and your standing right in front of me. Well nothing we can do now lets get out of here."

Both girls took off at a dead run eastwards making much better time than with the others. Eventually they ran into a wall of the grey mist as more was filling in behind them. "How high can you jump?" Ranma asked looking at the rooftops.

"About twenty five feet vertical but how will that help us? If we try to jump this we could land in more on the other side?"

"Who said anything about jumping the fog?" she replied with a cocky grin and leapt onto the nearest balcony taking several hops to reach the rooftops.

Meren just shook her head and followed. Soon the two were hoping from rooftop to rooftop well above the fog. Tendrils still reached up here and there but they were easily avoided. Before long they were out of the city and headed east to the river. "That was an interesting way to travel. You do that often?"

"All the time back home. Its quite fun when you get the hang of it and it beats taking the streets."

"No argument here." Meren replied as she scanned around. She could see numerous scattered trollocs but couldn't pick out any of the party. "Looks like we are the first ones out. You want to head to the river and wait or run around smashing trollocs?"

Ranma thought about that for a moment. While a fight could be fun she knew Meren tended to kill the things and even knowing they were evil she still didn't like that much. "Let's just head to the river." They ended up catching a few more hours of sleep in a tree before going in search of the others at daybreak.

* * *

Meren's sight quickly located two of them with a third converging on them. Of the others she couldn't be sure. She thought she saw two people across the river as well as a large number down the river a ways, probably on a boat but she couldn't tell if any of them were members of the party. They repeated the previous nights display of aerial skill in the treetops and found Lan and Moiraine. They got to listen in on some interesting conversation between the pair and later with Nynaeve from the treetops a fair distance away. 

"Well I guess that confirms that those two across the river are from the group and the rest are likely on a boat downriver." Meren whispered to Ranma.

Ranma nodded. "Are we going to join them or sit up here all day?"

Meren looked at the redhead with a mischievous grin "yes well join them but first there's something I want to do. Did you see how Lan reacted when Nynaeve surprised him?"

Ranma nodded absently then realization dawned on her face. "You wouldn't?"

Meren's grin got wider as she dashed through the treetops after Lan as he made a beeline for Nynaeve horse. _He's a good tracker but it's hard to track something on the ground that never touches it._ As Lan approached the tethered horse Meren dropped out of the trees right behind him. "Hi Lan!" she shouted in a deliberately cute voice.

The reaction was imitate Lan spun and had his sword completely drawn before he recognized her. She stood there with her hands behind her back twirling back and forth cutely with a huge grin on her face. A hit of anger replaced the shock on his face as he re-sheathed his sword. "That was foolish, I could have killed you."

Meren laughed, "I'm not too worried about that I could have avoided or blocked if necessary," as if to prove her point her knife was instantly drawn and held in a high block right in the likely path of Lan's opening blow. The movement was faster than the eye could follow. Lan gave a reluctant nod of respect as she re-sheathed her blade. At which point Ranma dropped out of the tree behind him. Both girls giggled fiercely as he nearly jumped out of his skin and had a hounded look for several seconds before his calm stony exterior reasserted itself.

"That was kinda fun eh Ranko?" Meren asked loudly as they followed Lan back to where the others waited.

"It sure was," replied Ranma, "He sure spokes easily." There was no apparent reaction from the Warder but Meren could distinctly hear teeth grinding.

"So have you decided to go to Tar Valon with us?" Moiraine asked as they approached.

Meren shrugged and then nodded. "We may as well. From the sounds of it that is where we need to end up anyway so we might as well have company and someone who knows the way."

"Very well but know that I will not let anything stand in the way of my fight with the dark one." warned the Aes Sedai with only a subtle hint of threat.

Meren nodded the threat was well understood although she was not worried. She didn't trust Moiraine anymore than Moiraine trusted the two of them. If worse came to worse they could always travel on alone. Ranma missed the subtlety altogether.

And so began the long trip down the river.

* * *

The next morning Meren and Ranma were up before the others aside from Lan who apparently never slept. They moved off a short distance so they would not disturb the others and began to spar. 

"You're not bad when you actually get into it." Meren commented as they briefly separated after an exchange of blows.

"You're no slouch yourself." Came the slightly arrogant sounding reply. Ranma was enjoying this despite her earlier reservations. It helped that her female form while faster wasn't quite as strong as her male form. There was less chance of hurting Meren accidentally, or at least not much.

Both combatants rushed each other again. Ranma launched into a flying kick which Meren ducked and then countered by grabbing the redhead with her tail. "What do you think you two are doing?" Both combatants turned their heads to the source of the voice to see Nynaeve striding towards them already partway into a lecture about how they should not be fighting. Puzzled expressions crossed their faces as she cut off mid rant and gaped openly at the two.

"What?" they asked in unison. The effect was slightly comic considering Meren was down on all fours and Ranma was hanging upside-down by her ankles her head right next to Meren's.

"What are you?" Nynaeve asked backing up slightly.

Both girls looked at each other trying to figure out what had spooked the wisdom. Suddenly seeing how she was holding Ranma realization dawned on Meren. "Oh." She said slowly to the now rapidly retreating back of Nynaeve.

"What's the mater?" Ranma asked as Meren flicked her up into the air and landed deftly on her feet.

Meren blushed a bit as she kicked at a loose stone. "I um, think this is my fault."

"Your fault? How?" Ranma inquired scratching the back of her head.

"Well, remember how I said I normally keep my tail around my waist because it freaks people out? This was just before we helped them fight the trollocs."

Ranma nodded remembering the comment.

"The thing is I kept my tail around my waist all day yesterday and didn't think to mention it to them…" she trailed off letting that sink in.

After a moment Ranma echoed her friend's earlier remark, "Oh."

Meren nodded "They don't know about my tail and Nynaeve just found out in a rather unfortunate way." She sighed a bit and began walking off towards where they had left the others. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

When the two approached Nynaeve had composed herself but it was obvious she had told the other two. Moiraine was studying her with a serious expression and Lan while not holding his sword had an air of being ready for instant violence.

"Hi everybody, I guess I sort of forgot to mention this." She said slowly twirling her tail between her fingers.

Everybody was looking at her tail intently and she turned a bit to give them a better view. "I'm sorry. I normally keep it hidden to not bother people but I should have mentioned it last night." As she spoke she let her tail wrap around her waist once again looking like nothing more than a yellow rope accessorizing her outfit. On closer inspection the others could make out the soft fur covering the tail but the effect was still pretty convincing.

"Do all the people from your world have tails?" Moiraine asked in a level tone.

Meren had to think about that for a moment sifting through the images and feelings she could pick out in her memories before shaking her head. "No at least not the world I grew up on. I'm half Nekoten which is where I get my tail from. I cant remember what the other half is but I think I grew up on that world and they don't have tails there."

"I see, are there any other surprises you forgot to mention?" Moiraine asked.

_Not from me_ Meren thought. There was Ranma's curse but hopefully the two of them could keep that secret under wraps. Hot liquid wasn't all that common out in the wilds. "No" she said with a shake of her head "At least not that I can remember. I know I have other powers that should come back as my memory returns but until then…"

Moiraine nodded slowly as she considered this new information. "Very well however you _will_ inform me of any other surprises in advance from now on."

Meren didn't appreciate the tone of Moiraine's command but she nodded her agreement. _Best not to anger her too much. A fight could get messy and being on the good side of an Aes Sedai could be helpful before we get home._ "Shall we get moving? We have a long way to go."

After a curt nod from Moiraine and a glair from Nynaeve the party soon continued their trek down the river.

The next morning Ranma was running through a kata while Meren got some exercise in her own unique way. She was balanced in a handstand on one palm and slowly doing pushups from that position. _No wonder her right hook feels like Ryoga's_ she thought dully.

They had both decided not to spar near the party to avoid any lectures from Nynaeve. She had talked both their ears off during the trip the day before and both were tired of listening to it. Instead they intended to run on ahead of the others to get some sparing in while they waited for the others to catch up. This had the advantage of allowing Ranma the opportunity to return to her normal form for a few hours. At the moment they were passing the time until Moiraine woke up so they could tell her.

"Do you always do that?" Ranma asked curiously as she began a new kata. This one was one of her aerial forms involving high leaps with a great deal of hang time.

"Sure" came the reply with a slight grunt. "You'd be amazed how much arm strength you can build up doing this."

"I may have to give it a try" Ranma commented. She had seen Ryoga leap one handed with her on his back but he also carried around that umbrella that was heavier than most people in that hand as well. _She must work her right arm more to help with swinging her sword_ she thought as she noticed a new spectator.

"Good morning Nynaeve, care to join us?" she asked as she leapt a good twenty feet into the air kicking and punching at nothing all the way.

Nynaeve looked back and forth between Meren's pushups and Ranma's aerial acrobatics for several moments before turning around and walking off jerking her braid all the way. Meanwhile Meren lost her balance and fell over laughing as Ranma landed. She didn't think she had said anything funny.

* * *

Ranma picked himself up out of the small crater he had made as Meren landed next to him. Spiting out a bit of dirt he turned to the girl. "That was a neat trick." 

Meren smiled with only a hint of smugness. "You're the one who wanted to take the fight to the air."

Ranma chuckled, his style specialized in aerial combat and only Herb had ever truly challenged him in the air. One time Meren had dodged by leaping strait up and he had followed continuing the fight in mid air. This had gone on for a bit with Meren loosing until she brought her tail into the fight.

While Ranma had been throwing kicks and punches at her she in turn grabbed him with her tail. A quick forward flip wiped him around and sent him hurtling to the ground. "Ya ya, you'd be in trouble if I grabbed your tail halfway through that move though."

Meren crossed her arms and grinned smugly "Your welcome to try."

Ranma rubbed his neck working out a few kinks. _She's probably right_ he thought, that tail was not only strong but very fast. In his girl form he might have a chance of grabbing hold of it but as a male she kept it tauntingly out of reach.

"You don't have to hold back your strength you know."

"What?" snapping out of his thoughts. "What makes you think I'm holding back?" he didn't know how much more she wanted he was hitting her now instead of being totally defensive

"It's the way you throw your strikes. When you spar as a female I see you throw them in such a way that you get more power out of them. When you fight as a guy you don't. I won't break if you hit me hard and even if you did injure me we could always have Moiraine heal me back up afterwards"

It irked Ranma that she could read him so well. Most opponents wouldn't notice or care. It seemed as if Meren wouldn't be satisfied until he went all out or she got hurt.

Both combatants squared off again this time with Ranma throwing more power behind his strikes. This was a slight disadvantage as they tended to be slower and easier for Meren to avoid but her defense wasn't perfect. One good strike caught her across the jaw sending her flying across the clearing. Ranma was horrified when she didn't immediately spring to her feet. _Oh no I hurt her._

"I'm sorry I didn't mean…" his apologizing was cut short as she pushed herself to her knees and wiped a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Nice hit." She commented looking at the back of her hand. "Sure packed a wallop. I haven't had this much fun in who knows how long." She finished with a grin. "Now that you're really serious lets… Rats!" Her gaze grew slightly distant as she gazed off over his shoulder.

"Lans coming?" Ranma asked.

Meren nodded with a sigh as she tossed a water bag to Ranma to change back into a girl. Lan had been trying to sneak up on them and watch their sparring matches for several days. Meren wondered if he was noticing the slightly different tracks Ranma left as a Man. The chances were low considering how much damage they tended to do to the ground they practiced on but there was still a chance. What he would make of it was anybody's guess however.

"I wish he would leave us alone" Ranma said as he poured some water over his head. "We join back up with them each evening and all." She concluded.

"They're probably suspicious of what we do out here alone. Oh well lets just keep sparing like this maybe a good show will make him give up." Meren dropped back into a ready stance and waited for Ranma to engage. Both girls continued to spar until well after Lan got close.

Lan watched silently from the shadows as the two girls spared. Their unarmed combat prowess was quite impressive and he knew Meren was also an excellent swordsman. Despite the fact that they ignored him he was sure they were quite aware of his presence. Those eyes of Meren's almost guaranteed that she would spot him as she tended to fight with her powers active.

He still hoped to catch them unawares one of these times. Not only to assuage his pride a bit after the way they seemed to sneak up on him with ease but also to glimpse the mysterious third individual he suspected they were meeting. He had no definite proof although some of the tracks he saw looked like Ranko's but were deeper as if made by a man. He had informed Moiraine about his suspicions but there was no proof. For all he knew Ranko could be giving Meren piggyback rides on occasion. While an odd idea it would explain the heavier tracks.

After a while both girls stopped and sat back to back in the middle of the clearing. They were chatting about something but they spoke in that other language they sometimes used.

"Still there?" Ranma asked.

"Yep and I think he knows we know it too. But does he know we know he knows?" she said with a laugh.

"What?"

"Oh never mind I'm just rambling. I've had enough exercise for now so why don't we just chat for a while before heading back."

Ranma sighed inwardly, one of the few ways Meren was like other girls she knew was that she liked to talk. "What should we talk about?" Martial arts maybe she hoped.

"Oh I don't know. Why don't you tell me more about your home? I think it would be interesting to know more about those girls you had chasing you around. Be sure to watch what language you use Lan is still listening."

"Well first there's Akane. She was the first fiancé I found out a bout. Her dad was an old friend of pops and they apparently arranged for their kids to marry before we were born. Then there was Ukyo. Pops arranged that one near the beginning of our training journey. He ran off with her dads yatti which he offered as a dowry. The funny thing was I thought she was a guy at the time." Ranma looked up at the sky as she remembered the good times and the bad.

"Lets see next was Shampoo. I beat her in a fight as a girl and because of some strange law of her village she had to try and kill me. She didn't know about my male form at the time and later I accidentally knocked her out defending Akane from her. It turns out another law says if she is defeated by a male she must marry him." She was interrupted as Meren started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Oh I was just thinking how interesting that must have been. If she didn't know about your curse she would have wanted to kill you as a girl and just plain wanted you as a man."

Ranma chuckled a bit as she thought about it. Even though it wasn't funny at the time in hindsight it was hilarious. "Ya well then there was Kodatchi Kuno. I saved her from falling once and after that she decided I was the man for her and was constantly trying to marry me. We never were engaged but that fact didn't bother her any. All the Kunos were crazy."

"Ah yes you did mention her brother and the principle." Said Meren as she remembered the rundown of Ranma's history she had gotten the first day. "Quite an interesting bunch you had after you."

"Interesting is not the word. And that's not counting all the other girls pops engaged me too. At least half a dozen showed up over the months and who knows how many more there were."

Meren thought about this for a while. She really wondered how Ranma had done as well as he did. "Why did you put up with it?" she asked

"What do you mean? I didn't really have another choice."

"Well." She contemplated how to say what she was thinking. There was no delicate way to put it. "It's just that if I had a father like yours I would have just left. He seems to be the cause of a lot of your problems and leaving would have let most of them crash down around his own ears."

Ranma didn't know what to say about that. Meren was right but she just couldn't be like Meren. "I suppose but no mater how bad pops was he was still my father."

"I guess, I still think he was a looser that didn't deserve you." Meren listened and sometimes laughed for a while longer as Ranma described some of the wild and crazy stunts the girls had done trying to win her over. Meren could tell that Ranma wasn't entirely blameless for the situation but none of those girls were good enough for someone like Ranma in her opinion.

"Is Lan still around?" Ranma asked after a while.

"He wandered off an hour ago actually."

"What?" Ranma asked slightly annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me I could have changed back?"

Meren smiled at her friend, "Well I was enjoying our conversation and believe it or not you're actually more talkative in this form."

"I am not." Ranma said crossing her arms in a huff.

"Are too."

Ranma huffed indignantly, "What would a macho chick like you know about it."

Meren raised her eyebrows _resorting to name calling eh?_ "Oh probably not much more than a tomboy like yourself."

"Hey I'm a guy."

Meren smiled innocently as she took a close look at Ranma's chest. "You sure? You seem to have the wrong plumbing at the moment."

"HEY… I… it's a curse!" Ranma spluttered in indignation.

Meren laughed and put a hand on her friends shoulder. "Relax I'm just teasing you. Lets head on back the others should be stopping to camp soon."

Ranma huffed and faced away from Meren with her arms crossed. Meren knew just how to cheer the girl up. Walking up behind her she spoke in a quiet singsong voice, "I'll cook diner." Sure enough that cheered Ranma up quickly. _He sure does like my cooking_ Meren thought with a laugh. _Of course with what he's told me about Akane's cooking anything could be better than that._ She still wasn't sure if she believed anybody could be that bad a cook.

The two girls headed back up river a ways until they found a good campsite in the path the others were taking. Setting up Meren began preparing a meal which was just about ready when the others finally arrived.

* * *

Meren woke up feeling really good. It had been about a week since that night at Shadar Logoth and she had been enjoying her sparring sessions with Ranma. Her only regret was that Ranma didn't like to practice with a sword. Apparently Kuno had been enough of a nuisance to give him a bad taste when it came to sword work. _I know I'll ask Lan to practice with me_. 

She happily hoped up off the ground noting that Ranma was still asleep and went in search of Lan. Sure enough he was there wrapped in his cloak leaned against a tree as if he had been there all night. He could have been sleeping like that except his eyes were open and watching her. "Do you need something?" he asked flatly.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have a quick sword match before we set out this morning. I have some practice weapons with me." She tried the big puppy dog eyes that Ranma had shown her.

Lan was apparently immune to the routine for all he showed on his face. After a moment of thought he nodded and led the girl away from the camp so they would not disturb the other's sleep. After they were a suitable distance away he held out his hand.

With a smile Meren reached into her pouch and withdrew two long wooden practice swords and tossed one to Lan. When she saw his raised eyebrow she explained. "This pouch has an enchantment on it that makes it larger inside than outside. We would probably need a wagon to carry all the stuff that I could fit in it." She drew a shorter wooden blade from the pouch and tucked it into her belt before taking up a ready stance with her blade.

Lan shrugged his way out of his shirt before adopting a similar stance with his own blade. _He sure is well built_ Meren thought with a grin as the two engaged each other. The steady crack of wood striking wood rang out as they both danced through various sword forms. The beat was slow at first but quickly built in tempo until there was almost no time between the loud clacks.

"I do not recognize many of the forms you are using." Lan commented as the two circled. Meren noted the bright sheen of perspiration on his bare chest as he continued. "they are effective however, where did you learn them."

Meren smiled as she launched a complicated series of strikes that seemed to rain down from all sides. "its something of a family style. I've been practicing it for years." Her grin turned predatory as she shifted her grip and drew the practice dagger from her belt. "And this is my own style."

Lan arched an eyebrow at her new stance. "Are you sure this is wise? You can block and attack like that but a strong blow could overwhelm your block one handed."

If anything Meren's grin grew wider. "Care to try breaking my guard?" The clack of wood grew to an even faster pace as both combatants attacked and danced around one another.

True to her word despite Lans strength he could not break through her guard with her sword arm. She could not duplicate the feat with the dagger but she did not try to instead she deftly parried the blows so they would just miss her. It was taking all of Lans skill as a blade-master to even attack without being struck and Meren was a whirlwind of quick strikes blocks and parries.

Meren blocked a high strike with both her blades forming a scissor trapping Lan's blade. She stepped in and pivoted grasping his arms and threw him over her shoulder to land flat on his back. Not stopping there she did a small flip while he was falling landing on his chest and pining his arms to his sides with her legs. She leaned in close as she held the wooden dagger to his neck. "You loose." She whispered in a husky voice greatly enjoying the feel of his chest between her thighs.

Suddenly Meren realized exactly where her thoughts were going and was off Lan in an instant. _Stupid stupid stupid_ she mentally berated herself for missing the warning signs.

Lan stood and massaged the shoulder that had nearly been dislocated when Meren through him. "Good move. Unorthodox but effective."

"What?" Meren asked coming back from her thoughts and did her best not to notice Lan didn't have a shirt on. "Oh ya I guess it is a good move. Well I think were done for the day." She said in a slightly too cheery voice and bolted back towards camp leaving a somewhat stunned Lan trying to figure out what happened.

Meren's thoughts were a bit chaotic as she rushed back to the camp. _Nice going dummy. If you don't pay more attention you'll have to live with the consequences. Your not ready for that to happen… particularly with him._ She found Moiraine awake sitting besides a small fire in the camp.

"Is everything alright child?" Moiraine asked.

Meren looked down at her feet. She didn't like being referred to as "Child" but right now she had more important on her mind. "Yes, I need to ask you a favor."

Moiraine cocked an eyebrow; it was unlike Meren to come to her asking for something. "And that is?"

"I uh… need you to keep an eye on me for the next week. A closer eye than you normally do anyway."

"I'm afraid you are not making much sense. Why?"

"well…" _this is embarrassing,_ "It has to do with um biology." She still couldn't out and say it and continued beating around the bush.

Moiraine still did not understand. She guessed what the girl was talking about but didn't understand her request. "And why would your cycle require me to keep a closer eye on you?"

"Well… uh you see… I'm not entirely human and I'm a bit different…" she trailed off.

"And this is a problem…?" she hoped the girl would finally provide some meaningful information about her request.

"Well the differences cause me to have those times less often but the week before there are… urges that are difficult to control. I'm not saying I can't control them but it would be safer if I wasn't left alone with any men for the next week."

Moiraine finally thought she understood the problem. "Are you saying your afraid that you'll…"

"With Lan? Yes, and if I lost control I'm not sure if even he could stop me. It would be… unfortunate. So could you please not let me out of your sight for the next week?" she pleaded.

Moiraine sighed. She did not think this was necessary as Lan would not allow anything to happen and the chances of Meren finding another man out here were slim. However this would give her the opportunity to learn more about Meren and perhaps start teaching her how to channel. "Very well child, you will have to stay with the group. I will not chase off after you and Ranko just to keep an eye on you."

Meren nodded happily "That's fine, thank you." She was relieved to at least have some backup. She was more worried about being alone with Ranma than with Lan. The more she liked someone the harder it was to keep control and Ranma changed into a man when they went off to practice.

As if on cue Ranma walked at just that moment stretching. "Hey Meren you ready to head out?"

"Ah no not today I think Ranko." She replied a bit nervously. "I don't feel like it today."

"Oh why not?" she was rather confused considering how much Meren seemed to enjoy sparing.

"Uh well…" Meren leaned in close and whispered "it's a girl thing." Before walking off.

Ranma just stared after her. That answer didn't explain anything.

* * *

Ranma was board. She felt like she was slowly going crazy. She wasn't sure what she had done but Meren was avoiding her and had been for the last week. Oh she talked to her when Ranma started a conversation but she would bring it to an end quickly and otherwise would try to avoid looking at Ranma. Instead Meren spent most of her time talking quietly with Moiraine. 

Ranma had tried to apologize despite not knowing what she had done wrong but Meren's response had confused her even more. She had insisted that she was dealing with a problem of her own and Ranma had nothing to apologize for. Ranma shook her head; _I'll never understand girls_ she thought dejectedly. She didn't want to admit it but she wanted her friend to pay at least a little attention to her again.

She also missed the sparring sessions. Not only were they better exercise than practicing alone but also more fun. The fact that there wasn't much point in running on alone to practice also meant she had spent the last week stuck as a girl which bothered her almost as much as being ignored by her friend. Of course she wouldn't admit to missing the talks the two had, guys don't talk for hours on end after all.

She sighed again as she looked over at the only person who was paying any attention to her at all. There was Nynaeve mid rant about something; Ranma really hadn't been paying attention. With them actually being near each other for most of the day she had taken to trying to teach 'Ranko' how to be a proper lady much to Ranma's dismay. Still Nynaeve was a nice enough girl when she wasn't all high and mighty and telling everybody how to behave. Unfortunately her two favorite pastimes were telling other people what to do and arguing with Moiraine.

"… at least you're not trying to learn how to use the power. Filthy thing that power is." Ranma sighed as she heard a part of what Nynaeve was talking about. Meren had been accepting some lessons from Moiraine on how to channel. Moiraine seemed pleased by her interest although Nynaeve didn't, _she probably just doesn't like the fact that she's being even that friendly with Moiraine._ Even Ranma could tell there was no love lost between those two.

The lessons had started a week ago as well usually taking up a good deal of the evening. Ranma had sat in on one but immediately didn't like it. She didn't like the thought of having to surrender to the power to use it and those exercises… Ranma shudder as she thought about how girly all that stuff about imagining being a rosebud and such was. _Maybe if I try again Meren will start talking to me again_ she thought even though Meren had kept her attention riveted on Moiraine during that one lesson.

At least Meren had taken the time to set her mind at ease about the possibility of going insane. Apparently a man actually had to channel the power to be affected by the taint. Both the channeling and the taint would be pretty obvious to the user and it took a decent amount of exposure before any ill effects would be noticed. The fact that she would have plenty of warning if there was a chance of going insane was only a minor comfort. If she did get that warning the only way to protect herself would be to stay a girl until she could get home. _Assuming it isn't possible to channel there_ she thought dejectedly.

Thinking was one thing she had been doing plenty of lately. Back home there was rarely time to stop and think between one crisis and the next. Out here in the wilderness not much happened. Day after day of the land passing slowly by and even Ranma could only practice so long on her own without having to find something else to take up the extra time. The only downside to thinking so much was that her life was kind of depressing when thought about too much.

Maybe things would get more interesting tomorrow. Moiraine had said they should reach Whitebridge after a few hours of travel. A city might be just the thing to take her mind off her problems. _It better, I'm gona turn into Ryoga if something interesting doesn't start happening soon._ Deciding to go to bed early she left Nynaeve ranting there. She idly wondered how long it would take for the wisdom to notice she had left.

* * *

_That night Ranma dreamed. He knew it was a dream right away. First off he was a guy again and he distantly remembered going to sleep as a girl. Second he was standing in that field he saw an image of that first night. The rolling green hills seemed to shimmer in the pale light of the full moon._

"_So alone…" Ranma turned to see the shadowy girl next to him. "I hate being alone… Why do I have to be alone?"_

"_What do you mean? Why are you alone?" Ranma asked but the figure didn't reply as it moved up a nearby hill. Ranma could hear a flute playing a hauntingly sad melody drifting across the landscape. The music seemed to be coming from the other side of the hill. Ranma shrugged and followed the girl up the hill._

_When Ranma reached the top he could see a stone walled city in the distance. Behind the city he could see the castle from the first dream. Just down from the crest of the hill was Meren sitting next to a small campfire playing a flute. She appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old and it was obvious that she had been camping in that location for several days._

'_I didn't know she could play music like that.' Ranma thought as he listened to the enchanting tune. It was if all the loneliness in the world had been distilled and put into music. Despite the melancholy nature of the melody there were undercurrents of hope that caused Ranma's eyes to moisten. He wasn't sure how long he stood there listening to Meren play but eventually the music stopped._

_Meren sighed as she hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. "I hate this time." She muttered to herself. "Hopefully it will be safe enough to go back tomorrow. It's so boring out here alone."_

"_Safe to go back?" Ranma asked. "What do you mean? If you don't want to be out here alone why not go back?" Ranma looked towards the city. It was several miles away but he knew she could cover the distance in less than an hour. There was no reason that he could see for her to not go back… unless. "Is that your home? Is there some reason its dangerous for you to go home right now?"_

_The younger Meren gave no indication that she could hear him. She sighed again as she wiped at some tears running down her face. "No I'm not going to cry. This will be over soon and life can go back to normal. At least until the next time." She concluded with another sigh._

"_Next time? What next time? Please Meren tell me what's wrong." Ranma pleaded in vain. The seated girl could not hear him._

"_It hurts to be alone even when its for your own good." The phantom said walking over to Meren._

"_Why don't you tell me what's wrong? You seem to know what is going on, answer me!" Ranma was growing more and more frustrated as this dream got more and more confusing. Why couldn't Meren go home? Would she be in danger if she went back? She seemed sure this would happen again, did this happen often?_

_Ranma watched in shock as the blurry girl suddenly took on definition. She now looked like a transparent version of the Meren Ranma knew. She sat down right on top of her younger self assuming the same posture. Young Meren had a ghostly version of her older self superimposed on top of her. Both Merens sighed and spoke together. "I hate being alone."_

_Ranma opened his mouth to ask once more what the problem was but the world was already fading._

_

* * *

_

Ranma woke to find it was still dark out and the others sound asleep. _Ok these dreams are just too weird. Something's got to be going on, _she thought as she looked around. She heard soft humming next to her. Looking down she saw Meren lying beside her with closed eyes. She was humming the same melody she played in the dream.

"Meren?" Ranma whispered quietly but got no response. Meren was sound asleep. Ranma watched the face of her sleeping friend for a while and noticed glistening tear tracks on her face. _She cried in the dream too,_ Ranma thought, _could I be seeing her dreams? But why were there two Merens? _

Ranma shook her head before lying back down. Strange dreams were just too much trouble to figure out. Despite her attempts to go back to sleep she spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what these dreams could mean.

* * *

Meren was feeling kind of lousy this morning. Oddly enough she couldn't be happier about feeling bad. The telltale cramping meant it was now safe to be around men again which was good considering they were about to reach a city that would be full of them. She felt bad for avoiding Ranma for the past week but it couldn't be helped. She didn't want to take any chances. _I'll have to make it up to him_ she thought and she knew just how. 

After getting Ranma up they headed out to have a quick spar, Nynaeve's objections be dammed. Sure enough some exercise had gone a long way to pulling Ranma out of the funk she had gotten herself into even if she didn't have the chance to turn back into a guy. Having her friend talking to her again pulled her the rest of the way back to normal, or as normal as a guy turned girl ever got.

They were happily yammering away when the Whitebridge came into view. "Will you look at that?" Ranma said in awe. Nothing back home could compare to this. The bridge looked like it was made out of crystal lace so fine that it couldn't possibly support its own weight and yet people were crossing back and forth without a care to the impossibility of the feat.

"Yes it is quite pretty." Meren said halfheartedly. Her gaze was directed across the river to the town of Whitebridge. It looked like there had been a number of fires very recently. She absently picked up a small stone and held it in her clenched fist. She was busy contemplating how those fires could have burned in the pattern she was seeing and didn't notice as she drew on her powers.

"What are you up to?" Ranma asked pulling Meren out of the trance she found herself in.

"What?" Meren felt the last of the power she had used fading away but had no idea what she had used it for. Feeling something in her hand she opened it to reveal the rock had turned into a small crystal with a faint golden hew to it. "Hmm what's this?" she muttered as she used the Trimirida to examine what she had made."

"Wasn't that a rock you picked up? How did it turn into that?" Ranma asked looking over her shoulder.

"I haven't a clue" she replied absently. The crystal glowed brightly to her sight almost as if it were… a beacon! A smile crossed her lips as she realized how to use the small magical construct she had created. _This thing could be useful_ she thought before turning to Ranma.

"Hey Ranko you want to spend a bit of time in the city together?"

"Sure." She agreed happily. She wasn't sure what had changed over night but she was glad to have her friend back to normal again. She wondered if perhaps last nights dream had something to do with the change. The Meren in the dream had said something about it being safe tomorrow. Ranma pushed that thought aside, whatever the problem back home had been couldn't possibly be a problem here could it?

"Ok let me go tell Moiraine and well head out." She hurried up to the Aes Sedai who was just starting to cross the bridge with Lan by her side. "Ranko and I are going to look around the city a bit, well meet up with you on the outskirts."

Moiraine looked down from her horse "What of your request?"

Meren just shook her head. "I'm fine now; the next stage started this morning so the danger is past. I may be a bit snappy for a few days but that's it. Here take this." She said handing the crystal to Moiraine.

"What is this?" she asked.

"It's sort of a homing beacon. I can see it from a long way off. Also if you give it a good hard squeeze it will send out a signal I will feel. Hang onto it and I'll come find you guys when you leave the city or squeeze it and I'll come running if there's trouble."

Moiraine looked at the small bead and nodded. She didn't think it was a good idea to let those two out of her sight regardless but she also knew Meren was only informing her out of courtesy. Her hold on the two of them was tenuous at best but Meren said they would return and she seemed to stand by her word. "Very well but we will not be in the city long."

"No problem we won't be long." Meren said. Moments later she had retrieved Ranko and the two of them quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"So what are we doing?" Ranma asked as she was pulled along.

"Well a couple of things. I found out from Moiraine that at least two of the boys came down the river and passed through this town. I would like to find out any information about them that I can. But more importantly I'm taking you shopping."

Ranma stopped dead in the middle of the street. She had heard that line before and it was never any good. "Oh no. There's no way your stuffing me in a dress."

Meren looked at the redhead with a puzzled expression. "Who said anything about a dress? You've been wearing that same set of cloths for two weeks and they'll wear out at this rate. You at least need another change although we can get some variety in your wardrobe as well if you want."

Ranma greatly relieved that she wasn't going to be stuffed in a dress again conceded to going shopping. "Ok but nothing frilly either."

Meren laughed. "Don't worry well find something suitable for a tomboy like you but I need to make one stop first if I can find the proper shop."

Ranma grumbled about being called a tomboy while Meren talked to a few people they passed. _I'm a guy dang it._ After a few minutes she simply followed along as she took in her surroundings. There were a number of burnt buildings and the people seemed on edge. Despite this they talked to Meren and even opened up a bit.

Ranma was surprised at the change that had come over her friend. Gone was the mischievous and carefree aura the girl normally projected to be replaced by an aura of confidence and authority that seemed to make the people trust her. Ranma wondered if there was more to her friend than the tale of a simple soldier she implied.

After about twenty minutes Meren seemed satisfied with the information she had gathered and quickly lead Ranma down several streets. "So what were you doing?"

"Oh just getting some information. I'll tell you about what I found out in a bit first… ahh here we are." She said stopping in front of a shop.

Ranma looked at the sign over the door. "Uh what are we doing here this looks like a jewelry shop?"

"Don't worry were not here to buy. The money I'm carrying from my world is different from here but if my hunch is right I can convert it here." She smiled and proceeded inside where she talked to the proprietor.

Ranma was a bit confused; wouldn't you normally go to a bank to exchange currencies? She watched as Meren pulled a handful of gems out of her pouch and laid them on the table. The jeweler examined each of the gems in turn before haggling with Meren for a bit. After a few minutes he handed her a bag of coins in exchange for the gems.

"There now we can go shopping." She said stuffing the bag into her pouch.

"What was that you were selling? It looked like a pile of gems."

"It was sort of. That is the currency back home, what I sold him would have been enough for a couple decent meals back home but here I sold it for enough for us to live like royalty for a couple of weeks and I think he shortchanged me." She shrugged, she didn't care if the man got the better end of the deal she had more where that came from and she just needed some money for now.

Ranma whistled softly at the statement of how much money they had. "Nabiki would love you." She commented dryly.

"Who? Oh yes the mercenary. Well either way our next stop is just around here."

She led them to a large and obviously successful tailors shop. It took a bit of convincing to get the tailor to bring out 'Men's' clothing for them but eventually they managed to find several shirts and pairs of pants that would do for Ranma in both forms. When it came time to get some undergarments Ranma balked when Meren tried to get her to try on some for her female form.

"I'm not wearing a bra." She hissed.

"you really should wear one you know. Those will be a lot more comfortable to have if you do" she waved a hand towards Ranma's chest. "how you can stand all that jumping about with them hanging loose is beyond me. You can keep the boxers if you want although I'm not sure how you deal with that time of the month in them."

"Their comfortable enough, I don't want it." She pouted. _What did she mean that time of the month? Probably another girl thing._

"Look will you at least try it? I'll get some fabric and see if I can make something more to your tastes later but I don't think they carry anything that has someone with your curse in mind."

Ranma looked at the bra that was offered to her. It didn't even look like any bra she had seen before, more like a ring of fabric that was shaped in the front to support the breasts without crushing them. The fact that it wasn't frilly in the slightest didn't change what it was though. With a sigh she took it, "fine" she said as she went into the changing room to put it on. She was actually a bit surprised to find Meren had been right about it being more comfortable having them supported when she walked.

Meren had an insufferable grin on her face. "See I'm always right aren't I?" She broke out laughing when Ranma called her a macho chick again.

Meren paid for their purchases as well as buying several bolts of cloth. Some was high quality linen while some was silk. She purchased a variety of colors but made sure to get plenty of the red and black Ranma preferred.

"Where are you going to keep all this stuff?" Ranma asked as they exited the shop with rather large armloads of clothing and fabric.

Meren just smiled and ducked into an ally where she proceeded to stuff everything into her pouch. "Just didn't want to do that in the open, too many questions."

Ranma just shook her head _stupid question I guess_. "So where too now?"

"Well let's go get something to eat and I'll tell you what I found out earlier." Meren smirked as Ranma happily followed her in search of an inn. Ranma never turned down food in Meren's experience. Shortly they were seated in an inn with a name Meren didn't want to contemplate too deeply waiting for the balding and slightly pudgy innkeeper to take their orders.

The overweight man gave them a funny look when they ordered five helpings of whatever was cooking. Meren simply pushed a single gold coin onto the table and the man bustled off to fill their orders. Who was he to argue with a paying customer? He returned shortly with five steaming plates full of food and a mug of ale for Meren. "Can I get anything else for you ladies?"

"No thank you this will do." Meren said quickly covering a growl from Ranma. They both began eating their meals. Meren ate at a brisk but well mannered pace; Ranma was doing her human vacuum cleaner impersonation. Meren chuckled lightly as she noticed several young men turn away at the display. They had been eyeing the young redhead as if they wanted to make a pass at her. _Better for them that they don't._

"You really should learn some table manners you know." She dryly commented.

"Waf or" was all the response she got from the redhead who barely paused to say that.

Meren just shook her head, "Never mind the concept would be wasted on you." She took a sip of her ale and grimaced. "Cant say much for the ale here. Anyway there are a number rumors floating around town. Many have to do with a false dragon being caught and some nation down south calling a great hunt for a horn. Those seem to have something to do with prophesy around here but I wouldn't worry about it." Meren didn't put much stock in prophesy, people were better off without it.

"There are also wild rumors of dark friends and trollocs chasing riverboats. What interested me was that apparently there was a boat that passed through yesterday that had an old gleeman and two boys as passengers. From the descriptions it could be Thom Rand and Mat."

"So they made it at least," Ranma said at least remembering to swallow this time.

"My thoughts exactly." Meren paused and just watched Ranma for a few moments. "Good grief with the way you eat its like your worried someone is going to steal your food." This comment precipitated much coughing and choking from the redhead. _Herm must be a story there I'll ask him later._

"Anyway there was a riot yesterday that was the cause of most of the burned buildings around town. This same riot ran that boat out of town." Meren's expression darkened a bit as she continued, "The reports are sketchy but the riot seemed to be sparked by an older man getting in a fight with another that could have been one of the eyeless."

Ranma gulped "You think it was Thom?"

Meren nodded sadly, "Nobody knows what happened to him but I don't see anyway that old man could have survived one of those things. Of the boys I couldn't find anything else but a great many people fled eastwards along the road in panic."

"So you think they may have run that way?" Ranma asked.

Meren nodded slowly taking another drink. She was about to continue when she noticed a reflection in her mug. Drawing her knife she studied the uniformed soldier standing in the doorway in the reflection. The uniform looked spiffy with its bright red coat and burnished breastplate but the man looked pompous to Meren. _Oh joy a pretty-boy in the local militia out to prove himself._

_

* * *

_

The young officer looked around the room. He spotted two strangers, a young blond with the look of a mercenary about him seated with a young girl. He decided this one didn't look as tough as the large man from the previous inn and decided to puff up his ego after that last encounter. He walked up behind the young man and inquired to his business.

"Our business is our own, go away." Was the gruff response.

"Look here young man if your business threatens the good queen's peace it is my business. If you and your lady know what's good-" he had just put his hand on the mans shoulder when he was interrupted.

"Remove your hand or I will remove it from you." It was just then that the officer realized that the young man was really a woman. A woman with bright green eyes that looked very pissed.

"Your lady?" came the dangerous growl from Ranma; a red glow was starting to become visible around her.

The officer gulped and backed up half a pace before realizing that it was only a couple of girls. He had nothing to worry about. "Now see here, do you have any idea who I am?"

"No" Replied the blond, "but I suppose your about to tell us."

The nerve of her the man thought. "I am Private first class Mitchell of the queen's militia. This town has seen enough troubles of late without mercenaries disturbing the good queen's peace. I suggest you leave soon." There that will show them.

Meren looked him directly in the eyes. "Well private we will leave when we are good and ready and not a moment before. You on the other hand will leave NOW!"

The private backed up and soiled himself as he watched her face. On the last word her green eyes had changed to golden triangles for a moment. Several course s of action ran through his mind including drawing his sword and running for help. Finally the best course of action came to mind and he jumped on it. His eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.

Both Meren and Ranma stared at the man sprawled out on the floor for several seconds. Abruptly Meren started laughing. "I shouldn't have done that but it sure was fun."

Ranma had her arms crossed under her breasts. She was still upset at the man for calling her Meren's lady. She thought the private was getting off to easy but she couldn't kick an unconscious man.

"I guess we should get going, the others are moving to the edge of the city." She flipped a couple of coins to the innkeeper. "Sorry about the mess." She looked at the glowering redhead and then had an idea. Grabbing her mug she poured the remainder of the ale on the unconscious mans head and breastplate.

"What did you do that for?" Ranma asked although she was pleased with any added vengeance no mater how petty.

Meren grinned as she led them outside. "Imagine how his superiors will react when they find him reeking of bad ale with that stain on his pants."

Ranma thought about that for a few moments as an evil grin spread across her face. "You are downright evil sometimes." She said as she began laughing. Meren joined in her mirth as she led them to where the others were waiting.

_to be continued... _

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AN: Well that's the next chapter hope people have liked it so far. I'd like to answer a few reviews here while I'm at it. 

First not trying to make Meren into a Mery Sue. She isn't a one dimensional character meant to solve all Ranma's problems over night. I've actually put a great deal of thought into her back story, you just haven't seen it yet. I am using her as a catalyst to make Ranma deal with his problems but it wont happen over night, just having time to think will deal with much of it. She just takes a very dim view of male chauvinists and will not put up with it so that's why that got dealt with first, and even there all she managed was a special exemption for herself mostly. The rest of his problems they'll still be sorting out well into the time the story progresses to the time in Falme with my current plot outline, that's well over 9 months time wise. That and he'll pick up a few new ones along the way. She also has her own history to deal with which will cause a great deal of trouble for them both. She is powerful yes, Ranma will be to and they are going to need every ounce of it once I'm done. :) I'v got plenty of time to work with storywise so I can take the time to do it right.

Plot wise, specifically how they landed in Randland. First we have Ranma, your local chaos generator. Second we have an overloaded spell interacting with another magical field and a magical artifact being destroyed all in close proximity. Finally you have the precedent of Ta'veren in WOT. There was one incident where a man was killed as he sat down to dinner by a roof tile flying through his window that was blown off a roof a mile away by a gust of wind, all because Rand was in town. Tagging a ballistic object with an inter-dimensional traveler doesn't seem all that much of a stretch given the stories were dealing with here. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills" as it were. If they are needed they will be there.

For the anonymous reviews oops, apparently they are turned off by default. I fixed that. Appreciate all the feedback folks keep it comeing.

oh and if anybodys wondering the rest of the ranma cast will work their way back into the story eventualy. be on the lookout for a particular lost boy soon.

If you like this story please review. If you don't like this story and want to give constructive feed back please review. If you don't like this story and want to flame me "Roni nar rashnik shnee tassha!" I leave it to your imagination to figure that one out.  
If you want to contact me directly you can send mail to my hotmail box under the name Merendel. Put the word Hotan in the subject line somewhere to ensure it gets past my junk mail filter.

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few more haveing to do with this chapter. 

Borg rabit: ya there are a few words I know I'm lousy with. aparently my origonal proofreader has less time to read than I do to write. I can always patch things later if someone points errors out, I've done the best I could on my own.

Whitefox: I forgot about the bow. Its kind of a plot string I sort of set up the inital groundwork for that didnt make sense when I got there. May give the bow to Ranma but realy between the Moko Takabisha, Deamon god assault bomb (dont rember the origonal name for that one, often called vacume blades in fan fics) and eventualy channeling does ranma realy need more ranged attacks?

Yhabiki: mentiond in the prologue AN that this is just after volume 35 wich is basicly the konatsu arc but just before his mother finds out about the curse. so yes he does know the Umisen-Ken (invisability) technique and I'm going to asume for storys sake that he figured out the stuff from fighting Ryou (or whatever his name was.) curently I'v already had him use it twice in what I'v writen and I plan on mixing in some of the others when I find a good spot. the fast updates were because I wrote up to chapter 5 before I even posted the prologue wich ends up being about a week after the events at the end of EOTW and those two have struck out on their own for the tower ahead of the others. the reviews have made me post em faster than I planed as I'v been rereading TGH and all the sceans haveing to do with the tower in preperation for them entering the tower. My outline is slated for two chapters in the tower but in that outline they were also soposed to finish at the eye by the end of chap 2 :p as to Ranma channeling, well it is my story, havent decided on the male half for sure actualy, although I do have an idea for what realy was drowned in that pool he fell in. a few hints will start showing up soon. May or May not bring Safron in eventualy too, got an idea for him but that wont be for a long long time yet and it may not work out by then.

MingSHun: RAFO (haha as a jordon fan had to do that) that stands for "read and find out" for all those non jordon buffs.

I'll try to push out the other three chapters I'v already writin soon. 3 just needs a few tweeks on one scene, 4 is prety much ready as is but I still feel 5 needs some work. and I have to work this in with reading the new book and some of the old ones and my job.

And I do consider this chapter as number 2 despite what the site seems to think. Cant convince it to list the prologue as chap 00 or something


	4. Knights and Queens

my apologies for haveing the wrong chapter posted for a bit. I edited choices and accidently updated it to the wrong chapter.

Quick note on what various text types mean: (in case you missed it the first two times)  
_Italics are direct thoughts or dreams.  
Thoughts in dreams 'look like this'._  
>This is someone speaking a language that not all present understand.> (stupid site strips out the open bracket so I have to use two close ones.)

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, situations not mine, yada yada yada. Go read the prologue's disclaimer it still applys.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity and I dance on it all the time.

_

* * *

_

Time and a Half. Chapter 3, _Knights and Queens._

_It's good to be a guy again_ Ranma thought as he worked his way through a slow kata that was more of a stretch than anything else. He was practicing this kata simply because it felt good to move around in his male body again. Two weeks was a long time to be stuck as a girl.

They were about a week out from Whitebridge. For a while the party had followed the road east in search of the two boys. Moiraine had found hints that they may have traveled this way but nothing firm. Eventually she had turned the party northward to go after the third that still had his token.

He and Meren hadn't had a chance to get away while they were following the road. There were enough settlements around that they would have to travel for several hours to reach a location where they would not be interrupted. With Moiraine following wisps of a trail they had to stay available in case she suddenly caught a firm trail.

Ranma thought that he and Meren should have just struck out for Tar Valon on their own but Meren had insisted that they had a better chance of finding the information if the Aes Sedai cooperated. Having an Aes Sedai with them for introductions would go a long way towards acquiring that cooperation. In the three weeks that he had known her he had yet to find a fault in her logic and so he went along with her decision.

At least once they headed out into the wilderness again they had the opportunity to break away for a while to do some sparing and a return to his normal form. Moiraine had estimated the boy to be at least five days away possibly more. With the beacon Meren could lead them back to the party at any time and they could send a summons if the two were needed early. They had decided to take a couple day training trip despite Moiraine's objections.

The two had actually just finished a several hour long sparing match. Eventually Meren had had enough for one session and called a break. Ranma glanced over to where Meren was sitting on a large rock working with some of the fabric she had bought back in town. She had proven to be quite adept with a needle and had managed to make several nearly identical copies of Ranma's usual outfit right down to the wooden ties in the front of the red silk shirt. Right now she was working on something else though, when he had asked her what it was she told him to wait and see.

He grimaced slightly as he stretched a particularly sore muscle in his arm. Meren was picking up his style the more they fought and their last session had left him with several nasty bruises. He honestly hoped Meren didn't find out how much he was holding back. He put on a good show of fighting hard but he made a point of only using enough skill to fight her evenly. She was picking up his style and adapting it into her own and would eventually catch up if he didn't find a new source of techniques but that was many months off at least.

The main disadvantage of fighting her evenly was that she had a very devious mind. She liked using sneaky tricks to surprise him. He still wasn't sure how she managed to pull off a few of the moves. Still he had to admit that she was a good fighter unarmed.

He enjoyed the sparing but he found that every day he enjoyed their talks more and more. Even when as they started to stray from the talk of fighting more and more often he found that he didn't mind. She was easy to talk to and generally set him at ease. She teased him sometimes but it was always in a good-natured way. His own attempts at teasing her back were dismal failures as she deftly turned his attempts back at him. Still they ended up laughing a lot together.

He wondered how things would have gone back home if any of the girls there had ever tried to actually talk with him. When he thought back he found that most of them had been to busy trying to either win him over or hit him for some perceived wrong that they never actually listened to him. _In fact thinking wasn't something I did much of either back then_.

Life had been so chaotic that he never had time to stop and think about what had happened. Every time he weathered one crazy situation the next was hot on the heels of the last never giving him a moments rest. Not that this world was entirely peaceful but being able to go five minutes without being attacked by a crazed martial artist gave Ranma a lot of time to think. He just wished he knew why he spent so much time thinking about Meren.

It was nice being around a girl who apparently had no designs on marrying him either willing or unwillingly. She simply accepted him as a friend and did what she could to help her friend out. She had apologized a number of times when she found out how much it had bothered him when she had seemed to ignore him. She insisted it was a personal problem she had been grappling with and no fault of his own. She wouldn't tell him what the problem was and seemed embarrassed when he asked so he let the matter drop.

Ranma wondered if perhaps that dream he had just before Whitebridge held a clue to what Meren's problem had been. He had meant to talk to her about the dreams but hadn't had a chance yet. _Well maybe now would be a good time since I had another last… _

"Ranma, catch!"

He whirled and caught a white bundle of cloth that had been thrown at him. Taking a closer look he found he was holding a muscle shirt made of plain white linen.

"Go ahead and try it on for size, I'm pretty sure it will fit but want to make sure." Meren said with a smile.

Shrugging out of his red shirt he put on the white one she had given him. The shirt was snug and was meant to be an undershirt. Ranma wondered why it seemed to be reinforced through the chest region with extra cloth and why there was a pair of strings running down the inside under either arm. "What are these for?" he asked holding up the shirt to show the strings.

Meren beamed "that's the surprise I was working on. Give'em a light tug for now."

Ranma complied and felt the reinforced section of the shirt constrict slightly when he did so but couldn't figure out what it was supposed to do. "Ok what do they do?"

"Well remember how much you balked at having to wear a bra?"

Ranma nodded, he grudgingly admitted that it was more comfortable in his girl form wearing one but that didn't mean he had to like the thing. It was also painful if he forgot to take it off before he changed back to a guy as he found out earlier. His chest was much bigger around as a man even without the breasts and breathing suddenly became a problem when he changed back. "What's that have to do with this?"

"Well when you're in your male form that is just an undershirt. When you're in your female form give those strings a good tug and that extra cloth inside should tighten a bit to give you the support you need as a girl. What's even better is if you change back unexpectedly the pressure should cause the strings to loosen leaving it a regular shirt again."

Ranma looked down at himself dubiously. Despite the fact that the shirt looked normal he couldn't shake the fact that he was still effectively wearing a bra as a guy.

Meren saw his look and quickly reassured him. "Don't think of it as a bra, just think of it as a shirt that can change with your curse a bit."

He still wasn't sure about this but he figured she was right; it did look like an ordinary shirt. "Alright I'll give it a try but I'm not changing right now to test the other part of it." As if summoned by his statement a light rain began to fall. "Someone hates me up there." She said sourly as the momentary downpour stopped as quickly as it started.

Meren was desperately trying to suppress a snicker. "Well give it a try while I get some water heating."

Muttering all the while at how unfair life was Ranma gave firm pulls on both the strings. Sure enough the extra fabric worked just the way Meren said it should. It now felt like she was wearing a bra underneath the shirt. She looked up to find Meren staring intently at a small pile of wood with the tea kettle sitting on top of it. "Don't you need to light the fire first?"

Suddenly the wood burst into flames causing Ranma to jump back in surprise. "How'd you do that?" she asked.

Meren sat back wiping her brow. "I channeled. I didn't spend all that time taking lessons from Moiraine for nothing."

Ranma looked at the now happily crackling fire between them. "I guess that works but wouldn't it have been faster to just light it the normal way?"

Meren nodded, "Yes it still takes me a few tries to embrace the source but I may as well practice when I have the chance. Fire is actually one of the easiest things for me to work with so far oddly enough."

"Why is that odd?" Ranma asked curiously.

Meren simply gave the redhead a smirk. "You really should listen to Moiraine more often. Among women strength in fire is apparently rare. I may have an aptitude for fire if it is so much easier for me to work with now."

"I guess that's neat but I'm still not sure I want to learn how to do that. I'm just going to Tar Valon because you say it should be the fastest way to find a way home. I'm a guy I don't want to learn to channel as a girl."

Meren's eyes turned downward for a moment. "You may not have a choice." She muttered

"What do you mean?" She knew Meren well enough now to know that she wouldn't force her into anything she didn't want to do.

"Well it's just that the libraries at Tar Valon are vast. If none of the Aes Sedai know a sure way to get home it could take me weeks or months to search and find one if I do at all. Moiraine says you have the spark, you'll start to channel on your own possibly soon. Without being taught it could kill you." Meren looked up at her friend. "What if I can't find a way to get you home before you start to channel? Or what if it's possible to channel where you come from? Would you want to take a one in four chance of surviving when some instruction could insure your survival?"

_She's right_ Ranma thought. _I have a knack for surviving against the odds but even my luck could run out._ "Fine I'll take the instructions but I'm not becoming one of these Aes Sedai. I'm a guy; I'm not joining an all girls club."

Meren laughed, "I'm not even so sure I want to join their club as you put it. I'm learning to channel because I think it might be useful but I want to get home too."

"About that, how's your memory doing?"

Meren sighed. "Not good. I have more of it back than I did three weeks ago but there is still a lot that either doesn't make sense or is missing altogether."

"What have you remembered so far?"

Meren had a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to remember. "Well I got the tail from my father's side. He was from somewhere called Nekota but I don't remember much more than that. I grew up in a land called Hyrule which I assume is my mother's homeland. Unfortunately I can't remember either of their names and I cant even find a face that might be my mother… that bothers me a bit."

Ranma could relate to that. She had always known her father but for the longest time she hadn't even known of her mother. She knew she had to have one but her father had let her assume she was dead. _And when mom finally showed up I had to hide from her thanks to that stupid seppuku pledge._ Ranma really wished she could see a way out of that; she really wanted to meet her mother as herself.

"Anyway I'd apparently joined the military of Hyrule at an early age and I get the feeling I had moved fairly high up the command structure before I ended up here but I'm not sure how high yet."

"Ya I thought it looked like you were a leader in that army."

Meren eyed her friend curiously. "What do you mean? When did you see me in the army?"

Ranma winced, _me and my big mouth._ "I guess this is as good a time as any to talk about this. Have you been having any strange dreams? About me in particular?"

Meren shook her head slowly. "Not really, I don't remember much about my dreams lately but I don't think there was anything out of the ordinary. A few that could be memories but nothing about you." She thought about the question for a moment more. "Have you been dreaming about me?"

Ranma nodded "I've had a few odd dreams about you lately. They started not long after we arrived."

"Nothing kinky I hope." She teased.

Ranma's head jerked up suddenly "What? No nothing like that! I'm not a pervert!"

"your too easy to tease Ranma." Meren laughed and gave her friend a light punch to the shoulder.

"Come on, I'm serious here. If your going to just tease me I shouldn't have said anything." Ranma crossed her arms under her breasts indignantly.

"Ok I'll be good. I promise to be serious." Meren turned up the cuteness factor on her smile a few notches. "Here the waters ready. Change back and you can tell me about these dreams."

Ranma shudder as he set the kettle back down. _I shouldn't have shown her that._ He couldn't resist a cute girl asking him for something. He thought back to the dream he had had that morning as he began to talk.

* * *

_Ranma was standing on a battlefield. An army was besieging a fortress. Ranma watched as a large armored man gave out orders to his subordinates. Most were wearing matching armor and uniforms except for one teenage girl. She saluted as she acknowledged her orders and ran past where Ranma was standing. The girl was Meren. _

_flicker the world seemed to blink as the scene shifted. _

_Ranma was now standing next to the wall of the fortress. Meren ran up to the wall leading a squad of twenty men. She put her hands on the wall and the Triforce marks flared to life for a moment before the wall exploded inwards. She drew her sword as her men followed her through the breach. _

_flicker _

_Ranma found himself in what looked like a training yard. Numerous men were practicing with various weapons throughout the yard. Near the center of the yard a young woman was facing off against a young man who couldn't be more than sixteen. Despite the fact that she looked nothing like Meren, Ranma instantly knew it was her. _

_"Are you hard of hearing recruit? I said attack me." Meren said _

_The boy took a swing at the wooden sword Meren was holding and she batted it aside with contempt. "That's my sword kid not me. I know your good enough to tell the difference. Now attack me." _

_"But sir!" the boy complained. _

_"If you cant follow a simple order you do not belong here. Say the word and I'll wash you out and you can go back to farming. You wont amount to anything with the attitude you are showing." _

_Meren had pushed the boy as far as he would go. In a rage he launched himself at her. They began to dance back and forth exchanging blows as Meren critiqued his form. As Ranma watched the training exercise the ghostly Meren appeared next to him. _

_"Dosel was just like many other young hotshots. Too chauvinistic to fight a girl unless provoked. Breaking him of that wasn't easy." The ghostly image commented with a wry grin on her face. _

_Ranma snorted. He remembered how he had been the first couple times of sparing with Meren. "I guess you get that a lot." _

_Ghostly Meren ignored him as she looked around the walled practice field. "I remember this place. I always felt at home here, more than I did at home." She started walking around the area slowly occasionally pausing in front of one of the knights. "My fellow knights could accept me even if most other people shunned me because I was different." _

_The fight between Dosel and Meren came to an end. Meren's form shimmered a bit as her features returned to normal. She looked exactly like she did the first day Ranma met her. 'This must be a recent memory,' Ranma thought. Dosel fell to his knees in shock while the rest of the recruits snapped to attention and saluted. A number of the older knights chuckled as Meren walked off. Apparently this was a joke she pulled often on new recruits and they enjoyed it. _

_One of the knights clapped Dosel on the back. "Congratulations kid, you just got your ass handed to you by Captain Hotan." _

_Ghostly Meren smiled. "Good old Dan. He was one of my first friends in the knights. He could not only fight with the best of them but he could also drink an elephant under the table." She chuckled softly remembering something. "He was also the only one with the balls to call me Spitfire to my face. Of course I made him pay for giving me that nickname." _

_flicker _

_Ranma was somehow floating along beside Meren as she rode a horse with a group of other men. Ranma recognized one of them as the commander from the siege. A column of men on foot followed the mounted party. _

_"What is this?" ghostly Meren asked. "This feels like it should be familiar but…" she held her head in her hands. "Why cant I remember." She cried in frustration. _

_Ranma tried to put his hand on her shoulder but it passed right through her. "Its ok." He tried comforting her anyway. "I'm sure you'll-" _

_"NO!" she yelled looking up suddenly. "Don't go this way it's a trap!" she yelled at herself. The real Meren continued riding next to her commander looking bored, completely oblivious to the pleas of her ghostly self. _

_Suddenly the ground exploded under the mounted officers. Ranma yelled in surprise as he saw huge fireballs sailing in from a distant hilltop as an army swarmed over the hills. "No not again!" ghostly Meren wailed as the world faded to black. _

* * *

"Well," Meren said as Ranma finished telling her of his dreams. "You're defiantly seeing memories of mine. I can remember most of those situations. Haven't a clue how your doing it though."

"I'm not doing anything. It just happens. It's not like I want to peek into your memories like that." Ranma said defensively.

"Easy, I'm not accusing you of anything."

"You mean you're not upset about this? Aren't you concerned I might learn something private from this?"

Meren shrugged. "It's not like you have any control over it. I find it kind of weird knowing you're having dreams about my memories but we should be used to weird by now.

"So what should we do about these dreams?" Ranma asked. He was slightly confused about why Meren wasn't upset. True he couldn't help it but it seemed to be an invasion of privacy to him.

"Nothing. I'm not sure if there's anything we could do anyway. Unless these dreams start giving you trouble its probably best to just leave them alone."

"Your sure you don't remember any of these dreams yourself? You don't see me or this ghostly image in your dreams?"

Meren shook her head. "I remember that dream you had this morning but it was all as if I was reliving the experience. I didn't see you or another me."

"Then who is that ghostly version of you?" Ranma wondered out loud.

Meren chuckled "got me, they may be my memories but she's part of your dreams. You figure your half out. To be honest I wish I had another me narrating. It might make piecing these memories back together easier. It's hard to know what I was doing without knowing the why."

Ranma frowned as he thought about the dreams. "About that last one. What happened? The ghostly Meren seemed upset."

"A lot of people died. How'd that shirt work out?" she asked.

Ranma started at the abrupt change of subject. "Uh it worked just like you said it was. Thanks. How'd you figure out how to do this anyway?"

Meren smiled. "I'm glad it works. I picked up a bit of needlework repairing my own cloths in the army. May not be up to the standards of a seamstress but its sufficient. The rest just takes a bit of ingenuity. I'll make a few more of them so you have some changes. You want any other colors?" she asked rummaging through her pouch. "Let's see I got White Red black, some blue, some green, some er never mind you don't want that one."

Ranma just shrugged. "It doesn't matter as long as it isn't pink." _I guess she doesn't want to talk about that memory._

Meren nodded, "Ok that's easy enough." _Yep he defiantly doesn't want the last one._

"You rested enough for another go?" Ranma asked pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards where they practiced.

"Eager for me to kick your ass again eh?" she laughed.

"Ya Ya well see who cries uncle first." He said flashing his most arrogant grin. The grin slipped a little at the predatory look on Meren's face.

"Is that a challenge?" she asked as her tail uncoiled.

* * *

"Ok snort you win let snicker me up already." Ranma was currently face down in the dirt. Meren was sitting on his back with her tail running up over her shoulder tiring his hands behind his back. His legs were bent and immobilized under each of Meren's arms and she was currently finding out how ticklish he was.

"Come on, ha-ha, this is no fair."

"Say uncle." She commanded coyly.

"Uncle!" he cried out before she finally released her hold on him. "That was cheating." He said indignantly.

"Hey anything goes." She said making a jab at the name of his style.

"Hmph." He crossed his arms looking away. Meren had tried that aerial stunt with her tail again. This time he had managed to grab the end of it before she could pull it away but that turned out to be a mistake. She had just looped her tail around his wrists wrenching them back over his head as they tumbled to the ground. She had landed on top and immediately grabbed and pined his legs completely immobilizing him.

"I did say you were welcome to try when you suggested countering that move by grabbing my tail." The grin on Meren's face was purely insufferable.

"I'll find a way to beat it." He insisted.

"You're cute when you pout."

"Guys don't POUT! I'm not Pouting!" he yelled at her to no effect, she was rolling on the ground laughing."

* * *

_I don't pout_ he thought again with a sigh. It was dark out now and he was laying on his back next to the fire. He belched softly and was treated to a retaste of a bit of the rabbit they had eaten for dinner. He sighed as he listened to the gentle strains of music coming from the other side of the campfire.

Meren was sitting on the rock form before plucking out an aimless melody on her guitar. Occasionally she would play an actual song but usually she just played whatever she felt like at the time. Most of the time this spontaneous music was even more enjoyable to listen to than the songs. Ranma found it quite relaxing to listen too.

The music session was something she started the first night out from Whitebridge. Ranma hadn't even known she was carrying that thing around in her pouch until she just pulled it out and started playing. It did help relieve some of the tension the party was feeling at not having located any of the others. She even had that flute from the dream in her pouch that she pulled out sometimes while they were on the road.

He found himself thinking about home. He was a bit homesick but he wondered if he would even be happy back home now. This world wasn't perfect but it did have a lot going for it. No school, no fiancés trying to merry him, nobody in particular trying to kill or maim him at all hours of the day. Why did he want to go back? _How bout family honor?_ A small voice asked. That was it wasn't it, if he didn't go back it would tarnish his families honor by not fulfilling the arranged marriage contract.

_Then again pops sold me to so many people is there any family honor left?_ He couldn't merry them all and either way he couldn't please everybody. Maybe he should just stay here. _No! Pops may have no honor but I do._ He didn't know what he could do back home but he wouldn't run from it like his old man always did.

"What you thinking about?" Meren's voice drifted across the fire along with the melody of her music.

"Home. Family. What I'm going to do when I get back."

"Feeling homesick?"

"A bit," he sighed. Another thing home didn't have was Meren. Maybe she could visit from time to time. He would enjoy a training journey or two with her. _Heh Akane would love that not to mention the others._ Shampoo would probably try to give Meren the kiss of death. Ranma doubted the results would be pretty although he didn't doubt Meren would win that fight.

"Anything you want to talk about?" The music didn't stop as he thought about his answer.

"Not right now, I need to think about it some more."

"Whenever you're ready you know where to find me."

Yes he would defiantly need to find out if Meren would visit. If nothing else it would give him someone to talk too. He slowly drifted off to sleep listening to the gentle notes that drifted across the plains.

* * *

"What's up?" Meren asked as she and Ranma ran up to the others. They had been out for a couple days when she had felt the beacon trigger. Lan gestured to the terrain indicating she should look for herself.

"It looks like a small army came through here." She said looking around. "Men on horseback, about two hundred or so. Maybe fewer depending on how many remounts they have." She knelt down examining some of the signs more carefully. "Passed by about two days ago heading eastward." She concluded. A nod from Lan indicated he had concluded the same. "What does that have to do with us?"

"The boy is about two days travel in that direction" Moiraine said pointing off to the east. She was pointing almost directly down the line of travel the army had taken.

"You believe they have been captured." Meren said not needing to see the others nod to know the truth. "Let's go get him back."

* * *

Meren snorted in contempt as she surveyed the layout of the Whitecloak camp. "Those guards would make good decoys to draw attention from the real guards… to bad they are the only guards." She whispered shaking her head. Blindingly white cloaks stood out like a sore thumb in the night as the guards marched precise and unvarying patrols around the camp. "I could sneak in and out of there drunk and blindfolded."

"But can you do it with two rescued prisoners in unknown condition?" Lan asked gruffly. That was the rub getting in and out was easy, getting in and out with the prisoners without attracting attention wasn't.

Meren shook her head with a sigh, "Well need horses for those two as well and preferably do something about the Whitecloaks horses as well." She thought about the situation for a moment before asking "Ranko how good are you at sneaking around unseen?"

In response Ranma used her Umisen-Ken technique and faded from sight completely. "This good enough?" her disembodied voice was heard.

Meren nodded in admiration. "Neat trick, it does a good job of hiding even from the Trimirida. I can only see the air rippling when you talk, probably could see you if you moved to fast too."

After a few minutes a plan was decided on. Moiraine would prepare a diversion to cover their escape. Meren and Ranko would get Nynaeve in to the picket lines where she would weaken them and prepare to steal two horses when the diversion started. While she was at that Ranko would roam the camp and do what she could to cause as much chaos when the diversion started. Meren would help Lan free the prisoners while watching for any trouble.

Meren crouched near the tent where Perrin and Egwene were being held. A man was inside holding Perrin's axe and looked like he was about ready to use it. _He's going to kill them! _She thought urgently as she sprang into motion. She dropped the guard on the left with one well placed fist to the head and darted through the tent flap as she heard Lan dealing with the other.

The man with the axe spun and tried to strike her with the axe but was to slow. She dashed inside his reach as her tail wiped out snagging him around the waist. Spinning as she flew past the man was wiped around to smash down flat on his back as Meren delivered a vicious axe kick to his abdomen. She was rather surprised to find him still conscious as she knelt down and jabbed a pressure point on the side of his neck to knock him out. "Nighty night." She whispered as he lost consciousness.

Meren moved to cut the ropes holding Perrin and Egwene as Lan doused the lantern. She moved to the entrance of the tent as Lan prepared the other two for travel. _What the heck is he doing? _She thought as she caught traces of Ranma bouncing around the camp wildly but apparently unnoticed by any of the Whitecloaks. Looking up she saw Moiraine's weave taking shape. "Here it comes" she hissed seconds before the first lightning bolt crashed overhead.

Knocking out a few more guards along the way the group quickly made its way outside of the Whitecloak camp. Ranma appeared halfway back to the rendezvous point carrying what looked like a huge sack on her back. "What's in the bag?" Meren asked.

Ranma was wearing a huge grin on her face as she dumped the bag on the ground and showed the contents to Meren. She couldn't help but laugh as she saw what was inside. "Ha-ha that will slow them down. How many did you get?"

"Every one that wasn't being worn at the time and a good number that _were_."

"Well get rid of them and lets get back to the others." Meren was still laughing as Ranma swung the sack around a couple times and hefted it off into the distance. A few hundred yards away the bag smashed into a tree spilling hundreds of left boots onto the ground.

* * *

Lord Captain Geofram Bornhald was studying a map in his tent. The chances of his force reaching their destination on time had been slim before tonight. Now with most of his men unable to travel and their horses scattered failure was all but guaranteed. Someone had mounted a rescue of the prisoners that much was certain. A very effective rescue that left no opportunity for pursuit even if he had the time to spare. He was contemplating his next move when a voice interrupted him.

"Your sentries are worthless you know."

Looking up he saw a young woman standing in the corner of his tent with her arms crossed. She was wearing a red leather jerkin, green pants and brown boots with a sword strapped over her right shoulder. Her stance suggested she was ready for a fight but not interested in starting one. "It would appear so considering you are here and no alarm was raised."

The girl simply shrugged he shoulders. "It wouldn't have really mattered I could get in even if they were competent but it would have been harder."

"I suppose you have a better way?" He leaned back in his chair. He did not feel threatened by the girl, if she wanted him dead she could have killed him before announcing herself.

She seemed to consider that for a moment. "Why not. Try posting a few more that are actually hidden. By that I mean loose the ridiculous cloaks and no announcing their presence with that touch-phrase your patrols are using. That might make it harder for someone to sneak in here. Leave the worthless ones they might distract someone trying to get in from the real guards."

Bornhald chuckled at the concept of receiving sentry advice from a girl that could almost be a granddaughter to him. "I had considered that after what happened tonight. May I presume you had something to do with that?" A smile and a slow nod was her response. "Then why have you returned? You escaped cleanly with my prisoners I might add."

"Mostly I was curious. I wanted to meet the commander of this force. Considering what happened I expected a bit more chaos but it appears that your men were trained better than I gave them credit for."

He nodded at the compliment, "Geofram Bornhald Lord Captain of the Children of Light."

"Meren Hotan, Captain and commander of the Knights of Hyrule." She introduced with a slight bow.

Bornhald was impressed. A military commander at such a young age and one of the most senior by the way she phrased that, assuming it was the truth. "I'm afraid I have never heard of your land. Where is it?"

Her smile asked what kind of fool he took her for. "Let's just say that I doubt you will find it on any map you have access to. If it makes you feel any better I had never heard of the Children until this last week."

A cryptic response if ever he had heard one. "You are a long way from home then."

"You have no idea," She muttered. He suspected he wasn't really meant to hear that.

"You're rather brash for a darkfriend. Raiding an army of the Children to rescue two darkfriends. Returning alone to converse with me."

Meren snorted at the accusation. "I'm no darkfriend, neither are Perrin and Egwene. I suspect they would be dead or worse if a darkfriend got their hands on them."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Would a darkfriend have spared your men? We could have killed a number of them but didn't." she suddenly smirked. "How's Byar?"

Bornhald chuckled, Child Byar's description of the one who had defeated him could be her, although by his account she was male and much larger. "Nursing a headache but otherwise he'll live."

She smiled and nodded, "Good it's the least he deserves. I understand he was mostly responsible for the injuries to Perrin."

"Child Byar can be overzealous at times but considering what the boy was charged with-"

"Which is?" she interrupted.

"Running with wolves, creatures of the dark one. Killing two of the Children. The second would send him to the gibbet on our return to Amador."

"He was acting in defense of himself and his companion." She pointed out.

Bornhald shook his head. "That may or may not be true however our laws are clear on this matter."

She nodded her understanding with a grim expression. "I see. I can not let you have him in any case."

Bornhald had not expected any different. "Would you satisfy my curiosity about one aspect of your raid?"

Meren cocked an eyebrow and nodded.

"How did you manage to steal all those boots?"

Meren laughed, a small tear of mirth forming in her eye. "I honestly don't know how he pulled that one off. His job was to find a way to delay pursuit beyond scattering your mounts."

"A brutally effective execution of his job then." He commended grudgingly. "It is difficult to mount a pursuit with only a dozen pairs of boots shared among two hundred men and fewer horses."

She chuckled, "That is true, still-"

"You!" She was interrupted as Byar stepped into the tent. He was unable to say anything further as he doubled over with her fist firmly planted in his gut.

"Ahh, I hadn't planed on paying you another visit but since you're here." She quickly jabbed a series of pressure points along his spine before grabbing his hair pulling his face up to met hers. "Sweet dreams." She said sweetly as she jabbed the sleep point sending him under once again.

Bornhald didn't move, _Light she is fast._ There was no doubt in his mind that there was little he or his men could do to stop her. "What did you do to him?" he asked cautiously.

She smirked a bit. "Oh just knocked him out again and gave him a little present. Sitting will be quite painful for him for at least a week."

Bornhald was beginning to believe that she may not be a darkfriend. No darkfriend of her strength would have left Byar alive in her position. "I see, what do you intend to do now?"

"Well my curiosity is satisfied and I even got a bit of vengeance for Perrin. It has been nice meeting you." She started to leave but paused. "My friends should have enough of a lead by now. You can find your boots about a mile southeast of here, the horses you'll have to find on your own."

"What about yourself?" Bornhald asked before she left. "Are you not concerned that I will raise the alarm and you will be captured?"

Meren chuckled softly without turning around. "We both know how empty that threat is. Don't bother following us. My friends are long gone and you couldn't catch me even if I gave you a head start." She stepped through the tent flap and vanished into the predawn light.

Bornhald stared at the entrance to his tent for several long moments. This encounter was beyond anything in his experience. His gaze fell to the unconscious form of Byar. Meren had proved beyond a doubt that she was dangerous but Bornhald had trouble believing that she was truly evil. He stepped out of the tent to send some men to retrieve their purloined footwear and to drag Byar back to his own tent.

* * *

Ranma glanced over at Meren walking beside her. Her friend had disappeared without a word the night before but had been sitting next to her when Lan woke them to continue their journey. She had offered no explanation to where she had gone and had been introspective ever since. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Meren looked up startled. "Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I was thinking about last night and trying to piece together some things." She said staring off towards the horizon.

"Where did you go last night anyway?"

"I went back and had a little chat with Bornhald, the commander of the Whitecloaks. It was-"

"You what?" Egwene interrupted. "Why would you go back there?"

Moiraine was also leveling a stern look at Meren. "That was a foolish risk to take. You should have consulted with me first."

Meren met the Aes Sedai's eyes with a hard look of her own. "You are not my mother nor do you have any say in what I do. Now if you don't mind this is a private conversation." Her gaze turned to Egwene at the last who didn't even look abashed at interrupting.

Meren shook her head and decided not to even give them the opportunity to eavesdrop by shifting languages. >Anyway it was an interesting meeting, not at all what I expected.>

>Really? How so?>

>Well Bornhald was not what I expected considering the Whitecloaks' reputation. I had a nice long chat with him and even got to give Byar a bit of payback for how he treated Perrin.>

Ranma snorted, >do I even want to know what you did to him?>

>oh nothing too bad> Meren laughed. >Lets just say that hell be walking for a few days. I suspect that riding a horse will be too painful with the pressure points I hit.>

Ranma made a mental note not to get Meren truly angry with her. >That explains where you went but what has been holding your attention all morning?>

Meren glanced up at the sun to gage the time; she seemed surprised to find it after midday already. >I guess I had more to think about than I thought. That encounter sparked some memories and I've been trying to piece together more.>

>Oh? What did you remember?> Ranma asked hopping to find out a bit more about her friend.

>You remember how I told you I thought I was an officer in the army? Well it turns out I wasn't just an officer in the army, I led the army.>

Ranma thought about that for a few minutes, something about that statement bothered her. >How? I mean you're so…> she trailed off looking for the right word.

>Young?> Meren offered. >I don't know that's what I've been trying to figure out. By all rights there is no way I should have been able to rise to that position by my age and yet I know its true.> _I know the old captain died in that ambush but surely there must have been someone older and more experienced to fill the role. _

>Maybe it's because you're such a good fighter.> Ranma had no problem acknowledging Meren's skill at this point. She was sure that Meren could easily go toe to toe with any of the martial artists back home.

Meren shook her head. >Fighting skill alone does not make someone command material. At best it qualifies one to lead a small group of elite fighters. No my ability to fight would only be enough for leading surgical strikes or to just be a weapon, not command an army.> the last bothered Meren a bit. _Am I a weapon_ she thought? She was insanely strong compared to what a normal person should be and her memories hinted that some of her powers were absurdly strong. _What if someone or something designed me to be the ultimate weapon?_ She shook that thought off. There would be no reason to put her in charge of an army if that were true.

>Its more than that, I just know things. Last night when looking at that camp I thought about how I would deploy sentries to keep a small raiding party out. Even that wouldn't have stopped me or you from getting in but it likely would have thwarted any rescue attempt by anybody else. I also knew how to move a force of that size in combat, how to protect supply lines, a hundred other details necessary for operating an army. I know everything that a military commander needs to know except how I could possibly have all that knowledge at my age.>

Ranma didn't have much experience in this field but it did sound like it was too much to learn so young. Only one possible explanation came to mind. >Could you be older than you look?> the old ghoul was quite well preserved for her age although she still looked old. Meren on the other hand looked to be the same age as Ranma.

>No I'm quite sure my seventeenth birthday was only a few weeks before we arrived on this world.>

_Scratch that idea_ Ranma thought although she found it strangely comforting that Meren was only a few months older than her. >I don't know what to tell you then.>

Meren sighed, >Thanks for trying. Hopefully more memories will explain things a bit better. I find it interesting that talking to Bornhald sparked the memories of being a commander myself.>

Ranma perked up as an idea struck her. >Do you think other situations will spark other memories?>

Meren nodded >I hope so; the memories that return over time are coming so slow that it could take years to remember it all. If we can spark them faster it could take us less time to get home.>

>Well let me know if there's anything I can do to help.>

Meren gave Ranma a little one armed hug. >I will. Thanks for being here for me.>

Ranma was positively beaming although she wasn't sure if it was from the thanks or the hug.

* * *

"Can we talk Perrin?"

Perrin looked up from his sullen musing to see Meren standing in front of him. He didn't know her well having only just met her before the party separated but she had helped free him. He really didn't feel like talking but not wanting to be rude he waved a hand to an open spot next to him on the log. "I guess."

Meren took a seat next to him. "I noticed that something is bothering you and I suspect I know what after my talk with Bornhald last night. Is it true?"

Perrin wondered what she was talking about. There were several possibilities but one likely one came to mind. "About the Whitecloaks? Yes." He replied sullenly looking at his feet.

Meren nodded in understanding. "It was the first time you've killed a man isn't it."

"I didn't mean to, I don't even remember doing it."

"Easy I'm not condemning you for it." She said trying to calm him down. "Tell me one thing though. Where you defending yourself or someone you cared about?"

Perrin nodded still not looking up.

"I see, then you did exactly the right thing."

Perrin finally looked up at this. "How can you say that? Two men are dead because of me. You don't know what that feels like."

Meren blew out a long sigh before responding. "I know exactly what it feels like. Taking a life is the hardest thing a person can do. Well that's not true, it's actually easy to do but it's the hardest to live with."

Perrin just gaped at her. "How can you be so casual about this? Were talking about men's lives."

"I know that. I have killed before and I would do it again if I was faced with the same situation. I kill to protect myself or those I care for. This doesn't make the act easy to live with but it does make it bearable. Don't beat yourself up for doing what you had to do, its hard enough without making it worse." She rose to leave.

"That still doesn't make it right." Perrin said to her back.

"No" she sighed "only necessary. Sometimes necessity forces choices on us that we regret for the rest of our lives but the alternative is often worse. Just think about it, it may help you live with yourself." She walked off and left Perrin alone with his thoughts.

* * *

"Come on Meren play us something." Egwene pleaded.

Ranma looked at the girl trying to figure her out. To her Egwene seemed a bit flighty, prone to having her attitude shift suddenly. Just the day before she had refused to speak to Meren at all after finding out that she had gone back to the Whitecloak camp. That changed after Meren's nightly music session. Apparently Egwene liked listening to music and that was enough to forgive Meren.

"Alright already," Meren said with an amused smile pulling out her guitar. They had just finished the evening meal and she usually waited a bit longer to start playing but the other girl was insistent. "Any requests? And don't forget I don't know many songs from this world."

"How bout a song about love?" Egwene asked.

Ranma wasn't sure which upset her stomach more. The request or the fluttery expression on Egwene's face. _Figures she'd like mushy stuff._ Ranma hoped that Meren would decide to play a song about almost anything else.

Meren had a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to remember a suitable song. "Well there is one I know but it won't translate well and still fit the melody."

"That's ok what is it about?" Egwene asked.

Meren started strumming the opening cords of the song. "It is about a woman searching across time for her lost love."

_Yep mushy stuff_ Ranma thought as she prepared to suffer through the song. Meren seemed to avoid the subject of love when possible and would likely play something else afterwards. Ranma was looking forward to that when Meren began to sing.

The melody was soft and gentle but upbeat as well as if speaking of hope for the future. The exotic words seemed to have an enchanting quality to them as they seamlessly mingled with the music. Even Ranma found herself enjoying the song. All those that listened could almost see the towering mountains and vast plains that the search progressed across. They could feel the woman's sorrow at being separated from the one she loved but could also feel the hope of being reunited. So powerful was the effect that nobody noticed as tears started traveling down Meren's face.

Shortly after starting another verse Meren's voice broke and within seconds the melody fell apart. Everybody glanced around somewhat confused as if a spell had just lifted. Quickly all eyes fell on the softly weeping Meren.

"What's wrong Meren?" Ranma asked but received no response. _She must be upset about the song going bad_ Ranma thought. She knew Meren was something of a perfectionist but she shouldn't react like this. _Maybe she got half way and couldn't remember the rest_, _gota cheer her up._ "Come on there's no need to cry. It's just a song, its not like someone died or something." She said comfortingly.

The next thing Ranma knew she was sprawled on the ground several feet from where she had been with the stinging palm print on her cheek. "WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT YOU INSINSITIVE JERK!" she herd Meren scream at her. Looking up she saw her friends face awash with a mixture of rage and grief with tears streaming down her face. Abruptly Meren stuffed her guitar back in her pouch and bounded off into the night.

"Meren wait!" Ranma yelled after her as she leapt to follow. She soon had to give up the pursuit as fruitless. There was no way to track Meren in the dark and by what she felt with her Ki senses before Meren moved out of range Meren was moving much faster than Ranma could. She slowly turned around and made her way back to the others in defeat.

_Why did she hit me? Was it something I said?_ Ranma wondered. This was the first time Meren had struck her outside of a sparing match. Ranma had made her angry before but Meren had never hit her. _Didn't she say friends shouldn't hit friends over words?_ Ranma thought in confusion. _What was different about this time?_

"What happened?" a voice asked. Ranma looked up and started when she found she had just walked back into camp.

"I don't know" she said sullenly. Suddenly several facts clicked together in her mind. A month ago Ranma would never have made a connection, even a week before she might have missed it but now, "oh…"

"What is it?" several voices asked.

"Well I was just thinking about something Meren told me the other day." Ranma started to explain. "You see she said that sometimes her memories return in batches sparked by something she does or sees. I think that just happened." She looked around at the others to see if they understood. Both Lan and Moiraine had their unshakeable expressions firmly in place but the others looked confused.

With a sigh Ranma elaborated. "I think that song reminded her of someone, probably someone she loved." She took a deep breath before finishing. "By the way she reacted to what I said I think she remembered their death." The silence that filled the clearing could be cut with a knife.

* * *

"I shouldn't have slapped him," Meren muttered to herself as she wandered into the city of Camelyn. She had run for hours before finally breaking down and crying herself out. The memory that had surfaced had not been pleasant at all. When she finally stopped crying it was nearly dawn and the city was in sight.

She sighed as she wondered how to explain to Ranma. There was no way to excuse her actions but she hoped he would understand. _Even with everything that happened at the hands of his father he would probably be pretty upset to find out he was dead too._ She thought sullenly forcing back the tears that threatened to flow again. The memories that had returned had all been primarily from the fight that had ended with her coming to this world. They included how her father had died.

As if that wasn't bad enough to remember the memories were also useless for getting home. There were still some gaps in her memory of the fight. All she knew for sure was that she had unleashed some massive attack on N'mer. _I don't think I intended to survive that blast either_ she mused weaving her way through the excited throng. She couldn't say for sure what it was she did but she was pretty sure getting blasted through to different worlds was a random side effect she couldn't repeat. _At least I got the bastard._

Her thoughts were interrupted as someone rudely bumped into her, hard. "White or Red?" the man asked gruffly as she regained her balance. Meren found herself facing five young men wearing white armbands and each had a ridiculous white feathered plume sticking out the top of their hats. They were also all armed.

"Excuse me?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"You heard me I said White or Red."

Meren sized up the men facing her. She estimated their skill ranged from proficient with a blade down to at least able to tell which end went in the other guy. The whole group was no threat to her and they were arrogant to boot. "I neither know nor care what you are talking about, now get out of my way." She said trying to shoulder past the men. They moved to block her path.

"This one has a mouth on her." One of the men said with a chuckle Meren didn't like the sound of.

The leader of the group apparently decided to enlighten the bumpkin in front of him. "Do you support the queen and her Aes Sedai advisor or do you believe that her involvement with them is a mistake."

Meren pinched the bridge of her nose. _I had to walk into the makings of a civil war didn't I_. Getting involved in political infighting was the last thing she was interested in but these men needed to be taught a lesson in manners. "I assume White is the faction that does not support the queen?" she asked

The young man nodded. "Yes, and if you know what's good for you you'll put on the white instead of the red."

A smirk slowly spread across Meren's face. "Oh I don't know about that. This isn't my fight but I would be more inclined to side with the queen of the land. I wouldn't want arrogant useless pricks such as yourselves on my side anyway."

The man had never heard that insult before but it was obvious the meaning wasn't lost on him. He reached out and grabbed her arm roughly "Why you stuck up little…"

Meren glared at him coldly. "Remove your hand or loose it." The chill in her voice surprised him and he quickly released her. Meren noted two large men with the look of brawlers making there way across the street. _Reinforcements but for who,_ she wondered but didn't have time to think about it.

Shaking off his surprise the young man drew his sword. "Get her!" he and the others started to attack her. _Bad move_ Meren thought smugly as she drew her sword.

She parried the leader and lashed out with her foot delivering a kick to the chest that caused him to stager backwards. She had recognized him as the largest threat and wanted him out of her way while she dealt with the goon squad. Her first slash found one mans leg biting deeply into his thigh, he fell to the ground clutching his wounded limb. The next attempted a diagonal slash that would have bisected a training dummy from shoulder to hip. Unfortunately for him she actually could fight back. She blocked high and brought the hilt of her sword up to smash into his chin sending him sprawling unconscious.

The next two attacked at once. She dodged a thrust from one and pivoted inside his reach grasping his arm. She drove that mans sword through the other mans foot embedding the sword deeply into the paving stones. That man dropped his blade and screamed as he tried to remove the sword from his foot. Meren dispatched the man behind her by snapping her head back into his face breaking his nose. With the goon squad out of the way she turned her attention back to the leader.

He approached slowly recognizing her as dangerous. "What's wrong afraid of a girl?" she goaded. Throwing caution to the wind he launched a wild attack at her. Meren bated the strike aside contemptuously and delivered a counterblow that removed the man's sword hand cleanly at the wrist. He hunched over his mangled limb until the point of Meren's sword under his chin forced his face upwards.

"I suggest you leave now and be grateful your hand is all you lost." She said darkly. He nodded as much as he could from that position and Meren lowered her blade. She swept a glare across the others but it was obvious they had no interest in continuing the fight… those that were conscious anyway. Meren turned her attention two the two brawlers she noticed before. They had stopped just outside the clear area surrounding the combatants. She gestured with her sword to the young men that were dragging themselves away, "you better not be with these fools."

One laughed and began walking back to the building he was guarding the other shook his head with a smile. "We were coming to help you but you don't need help obviously."

Meren shook her head and smiled. "Not against this riffraff." She bent down and whipped her sword clean on the coat of the man whose nose she had broken. The others had left him laying unconscious in the street. "I don't suppose you know someplace I could go to clean up would you?" she asked sheathing her blade.

The guard jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the building he was guarding. "You should talk to my boss, I think he'd help a good queens man…er woman that is."

Meren looked at the sign over the door. _The Queens Blessing eh?_ "I'll do that, thank you." She found the innkeeper standing in the doorway looking out at her. He was a fat pink faced man with graying hair combed over a growing bald spot and was sporting a starched apron.

"I saw how you handled those men. Cant say it was any less than traitors like them deserve." He said before offering his hand. "Basel Gill, pleased to meet a good Queens ma- er Woman."

She took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. "Meren Hotan, and to tell the truth I'm really not interested in supporting either side in this political mess. I'm just passing through and this isn't my fight. Those jokers just had that coming." She noticed Master Gill's expression darken a bit at first but that changed to a jovial chuckle at her last statement.

"Ay that they did. Are you one of those who came to see the false dragon?" he asked leading her inside.

Meren shook her head. "No I'll be meeting some friends later today but I might go take a look while I'm waiting. I was wondering if you might have a place I could freshen up a bit. I have been traveling for a while." She pulled out a few coins but the innkeeper refused them.

"Nay tis the least I could do for a fine young lady. Besides regardless of weather or not you support the queen those traitors have been bothering my customers all day. That's why I had to hire the guards, you've done me a favor taking care of them even if more will show up eventually."

Meren nodded her thanks, "If I had to support a side I would choose the queen unless she has been mistreating her people. However as I said this is not my land nor my fight and I would prefer to remain neutral if I can."

"I can understand your sentiment from an outlander. Tis an Andorran affair as it should be. The queen treats us right; those fools just want to blame her for everything from the weather to false dragons. You can clean up in here." He said showing her into a room.

"Thank you Master Gill. If you could I would like a meal once I'm done." She said pressing a few coins into his palm.

"Of course." He said bowing out as she shut the door. If she had been a few minutes sooner or later she would have seen a tall young man come down the stairs and leave by the back entrance.

* * *

Meren made her way through the crowed and wondered if this was worth it. She had had a nice chat with Master Gill over her meal and now knew much more about the political situation in the city. She suspected that there was a good chance of a civil war flaring up in the city at any moment and she hoped they found the others before then. A quick check of the beacon had shown that the others were hours away at best. She had decided to do something to pass the time which lead to her current situation.

_Maybe coming out here to see this guy was a bad idea._ It wasn't like she really wanted to see this false dragon, she didn't care, and it was just something to do. The fact that she had bloodied at least ten more men along the way didn't help her mood any. Some of the fools took her red jerkin as enough for picking a fight. She would have changed but it was either red jerkins or that dress in her pouch. That dress was a bit over the top in this crowd.

With a sigh she forced her way back out of the milling throng into a clear ally. There was no view of the street which was the reason nobody was here trying to get a position. She was about to leave when something caught her eye. Moving back to the end of the ally she spotted a familiar tall man with reddish hair. _Rand_ She thought.

Meren couldn't believe her luck; she hadn't even been actively looking for him. She had been slightly disappointed when the information she gathered only confirmed what Moiraine already knew. It would be interesting to see her face when she walked in to find Meren sitting with Rand and Mat in an inn somewhere. Unfortunately Rand was on the other side of the wide street full of people. She was trying to find a good way to reach him when she heard a yell over the babble of the crowd.

"Where on Earth am I now?"

Meren turned to see a young man with dark hair sporting a black and yellow bandana and a huge backpack with an umbrella strapped on. She was stunned when he smashed his fist against the wall in frustration and the brick wall partially collapsed on him. She immediately started digging him out of the ruble and was shocked to find him unhurt. "Are you alright?"

The man shook some ruble out of his hair as he replied. "Ya I'm alright, thanks-" he started babbling incoherently as he noticed Meren was a girl and was helping him out of the ruble.

_He's an interesting fellow._ She thought still amazed that he was alive. "Well you should be more careful; I'm amazed you survived that although that wall must not have been very sound." After all it didn't look like he hit it very hard.

"Oh right," he said putting a hand behind his head and laughing showing off a rather impressive set of canines. _Defiantly interesting_. "I guess I don't know my own strength. Can you tell me how to find Furinkan High school?"

Meren shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm not from around here. I'm Meren by the way."

"I'm… I'm… rrr" he stuttered before turning away blushing.

Meren stared at his back, _what's his problem?_

Suddenly the man stood up strait and thrust a fist into the air. "You can't run from me forever Saotome, prepare to die!" he yelled. Dashing off down the ally.

Meren just shook her head at the strange man. _Poor guy's lost it- wait a minute Saotome? And didn't Ranma say he went to a school named Furinkan?_ She dashed after the retreating man as he turned a corner. She rounded the corner only seconds after him but he had vanished… into a dead-end ally. "What in the…?" After a few moments of searching she determined that there was absolutely nowhere the man could have gone.

She gave up looking for him although she was still thinking about the encounter as she went back to look for Rand. She finally realized that the whole conversation had been in Japanese which nobody on this planet knew besides her and Ranma. _Could that have been Ryoga?_ She wondered remembering Ranma's description of the lost boy. _Naaa, he may have had a bad sense of direction but there's no way it could be bad enough to end up on a different planet. _

She returned to the spot she had seen Rand only to find him gone. _Rats I lost him_. She set out looking for him figuring it was a more important use of her time than waiting to see a false dragon she didn't care about anyway.

* * *

An hour and fifteen white feathered fools later a very frustrated Meren was wandering the streets of Camelyn. She had even tried picking out Rand's aura with the Trimirida but as of yet she hadn't succeeded. She barely knew him well enough to recognize it from a distance and even someone she knew well would be difficult to pick out of the crowds in the streets that day. _Unless he gets out of the crowd there's no way I'll spot him in this_.

No sooner than this thought crossed her mind than she spotted a familiar aura with only two others near it. _There he is._ As she made her way closer she was finally able to pick him out perched on top of a wall just as he fell over the other side. "Wonderful… Just wonderful" she muttered as she ran over to the place where he had fallen. One jump took her to the top of the hill and another left her perched on top of the wall.

She looked down to see a girl about her age with honey red hair tending to Rand's injured head. "Is he alright?" she asked from atop the wall. Rand, the girl and another young man that looked to be the girl's brother looked up startled.

"M-m-Meren?" Rand asked.

"You know this young man?" the girl asked.

"We've met although I haven't seen him in a month." Meren replied.

"Well he took a nasty blow to the head but he should be alright." The girl replied.

Meren nodded as she hoped down from the wall and examined the bandaged wound. The scarf was a bit gaudy to use as a bandage but it worked. "An excellent job, you're a fine medic." She nodded in approval.

The girl smiled "Thank you, I'm Elayne Trakand and this is my brother Gawyn."

"Meren Hotan," she introduced with a slight bow. "Trakand isn't that the name of the queen's house?" she asked.

"Yes she's our mother." Said Gawyn.

"The queen?" Rand muttered in numb shock.

Meren laughed, "You don't do anything small do you? Falling into the queen's garden and being tended by the daughter-heir.

Rand tried to head back to the wall but was stopped by Elayne. "You mean you really didn't know? You climbed up on that wall to get a look at Logain without knowing where you were?"

"I don't like crowds." He muttered. "Thank you my lady but I really should go now."

"Without even telling us your name? You know our name courtesy would suggest that you tell us yours." Said Gawyn.

"Rand Al'Thor, of Emond's field in the two rivers."

"Ahh from the West, far to the west" he muttered thoughtfully. The description he soon gave of two rivers people set Meren laughing. _Yes stubborn would describe that whole bunch._ "And what about yourself Meren? I don't recognize your accent at all."

"Hyrule but you won't find it on any map here. I'm from a long ways off." She replied somewhat cryptically. No point in telling everybody that she was from a different planet.

Gawyn nodded slowly. "I see. Well I n-"

"What's this?" he was interrupted by a tall handsome man with dark hair and eyes. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. "Stand away from them Elayne, you too Gawyn."

_Wonderful, another pretyboy with a sword, at least he looks like he might know how to use it._ Meren thought as Elayne and Gawyn put themselves between Rand herself and the newcomer as they protested that they were under their protection. _Galad eh? That would be their half brother._ Then something Galad said caught her attention.

"I don't appreciate being called a 'Stray'" Meren said stepping out from behind Gawyn who tried to hold her back.

"Enough they are hear as my guests Galad. You may leave me. Now!" Elayne commanded.

After a look that said Elayne was too stubborn for her own good he bowed gracefully and left. Meren watched him go only half paying attention to the conversation next to her. _Where's he going in such a hurry_ she thought as she watched his aura. She had found that she could use the Trimirida at a low power level with no change to her eyes appearance. The range was only a couple hundred meters but it was enough for this. _Oh that's what he was doing_. She thought ruefully as she shook her head.

Elayne was once again stopping Rand from climbing the wall. "We've got company." Meren noted seconds before soldiers started pouring into the garden. It didn't sit well with Meren when Gawyn moved to cover her with his body as arrows were leveled at her and Rand.

"My lord my lady, Down Quickly!" the officer in charge shouted. Elayne started arguing with the officer which lowered a few of the bows but not all. _I've had enough of this_ Meren thought as she stepped around Gawyn.

"Are you crazy?" he asked stepping in front of her again.

"I know what I'm doing stay out of the way." She ordered stepping past him once again. He looked like he didn't want to listen but there was little he could do if she wouldn't cooperate. "I don't appreciate being threatened at arrow point. Lower them, Now!"

"You are not in any position to give orders." The officer commented dryly.

"Things are not always what they appear." She said slowly grasping the hilt of her sword but not drawing it. Now nearly all the bows were pointed at her. "I said lower those Arrows."

"Don't even think about it Girl." Ordered Tallanvor, the name Elayne had used finally registering in Meren's mind.

Meren glowered at him. "Last chance." She said and heard Gawyn gasp behind her. Meren smirked knowing that he probably spotted the glowing Triforce mark on her hand as she primed the Hotan Striker with her sword still sheathed. She mentally locked on to each bow that was raised. She could use her attack for precision and thought it would be bad form to kill men only trying to protect their princess. Destroying their bows would be sufficient.

"That's enough Tallanvor. You will order your men to lower their weapons Now and conduct all of us to my mother. It is either that or take us all to the cell you want to throw them in." said Elayne.

Meren smirked at the double-blind the daughter-hair had put the officer in. The queen was busy and throwing the daughter-heir in a cell would not go over well. Tallanvor smirked as well.

"The queen, your lady mother, commands me to bring the intruders to her immediately. It is also the queens command that Lady Elayne and my Lord Gawyn attend her. Also immediately."

_Ok maybe that wasn't so effective _she thought as the soldiers surrounded them. She released the hilt of her sword when the bows were lowered however. The swordsmen were less of a threat in her opinion. _Oh well I get to meet the queen, that could at least be interesting. _She thought.

They were led swiftly through the palace but Meren didn't have a chance to admire the architecture. The sights had been somewhat familiar and had sparked another memory burst. She mentally groaned at what she was remembering. _Why me? I really didn't need this. I'm a solider not some blue blooded-_

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as she suddenly found herself grasping a hand that had been reaching for her sword. "They are my guests, and by custom and law they may enter even mothers presence armed." She heard Elayne say. Meren released the man's hand who started to shake it out. She had not been gentle.

They were escorted through the doors. Elayne dropped into a deep curtsy and held it. The men knelt formally. Meren gave a small bow but stood up strait immediately and enjoyed the murmurs she heard from the guards behind her. The bow she had given had been suitable to a visiting dignitary who she appeared to be. A show of respect for an equal, not a show of fealty.

She looked strait into the queen's eyes from across the room. The queen looked back studying her intently. An older man to right wearing the uniform of the queen's guard whispered something in her ear as she nodded slowly in agreement. Breaking eye contact she looked to the other occupant of the room. The woman who was presently knitting had an ageless face that marked her as an Aes Sedai. _The advisor and the general,_ she thought idly wondering how events would play out

"You may rise" the queen commanded and began lecturing her children about their inability to obey her commands. Eventually Elaida addressed Elayne and Meren instantly disliked her. _Moiraine may be slightly stuck up but this one holds her nose so high it's a wonder her forehead isn't touching her heels. _

The conversation continued for a while eventually turning to Rand culminating in Elaida spouting prophesy. "the dark one stirs in Shayol Ghul, the Shadow lies across the Pattern, and the future is balanced on the point of a pin. This one is dangerous." As she pointed at Rand. Elayne dropped to her knees and started begging for her mother not to hurt Rand.

Meren frowned, she did not know how valid her 'Foretelling' was but the wording could mean almost anything. It was obvious that she was implying that Rand should be held captive at the least. _I don't think so lady._ All eyes turned to her as she laughed while slowly clapping her hands.

"An entertaining performance but you need to work on your technique. I have heard better fortune tellers on the street. They only charge a few copper pennies for that kind of babble." Meren said controlling her mirth.

"The foretelling is not some parlor trick performed by street urchins _girl_" Elaida's gaze was level, her face a picture of Aes Sedai calm, only a hint of indignation in her voice betrayed her feelings. "True prophesy then?" Meren asked raising an eyebrow. "I have found little use for it in the past. The events foretold seldom occur as any would expect no mater how clear the prophesy seems. Prophesy causes more harm than good in my opinion."

"And just who are you _girl._ You have no concept of what you speak of do you?" the emphasis Elaida put on girl bothered Meren.

Meren slowly strode towards Elaida. "I am Meren Hotan, Captain and Commander of the Knights of Hyrule." As she moved the Triforce mark on her head flared. A circlet of woven bands of gold and some dark blue crystal encircled her head and framed the golden triangles in the front. A wave of energy washed across her body, in its wake her normal cloths vanished being replaced by an elegant blue white gown. "Daughter and only child of Ardall Hotan, the late king of Nekota. I am the heir apparent to the Nekotan throne. I will not be spoken to in that tone of voice _ADVISOR_!" she finished with harsh emphasis placed on exactly what Elaida's position was.

The transformation drew gasps from all but the Aes Sedai. If the display unsettled her she gave no hint. "Even queens listen when Aes Sedai speak girl. That display was impressive however it is easy to claim the thrown of lands that do not exist. What proof do you offer to back your claims? Where are these Lands you supposedly come from. I think this story of yours is nothing more than that, a fantasy."

"My homeland is not on this world. I am not from this world." Meren said flatly. _How did I end up dressed like this?_ She wondered. She had felt her powers touch the retrieval matrix surrounding her pouch but was still unsure how that managed to put her in the dress. She pushed those thoughts aside to deal with later.

Elaida laughed. "How convenient. Because you are from another world there is no chance of verifying your claims. And I suppose you similarly have no proof that that you are from another…" she trailed off as Meren brought her tail into the Aes Sedai's field of view flicking it in irritation. Had Elaida known Rernil she would have found what Meren had just told her to do with herself physically improbable. As it was she gasped in shock. Facing her as she was Elaida was the only occupant of the room that had been unable to see the tail up till this point. "Shadow spawn!" she whispered hoarsely and channeled.

Meren felt flows of air bind her tightly and a shield drop in place blocking her from the source. She didn't care about being shielded; she couldn't match a trained Aes Sedai in the power anyway. Seeing the weaves however was all she needed. The Trimirida flared to life in her eyes. "Mimic!" Suddenly the bindings of power around her disappeared as Elaida found herself shielded and similarly bound.

"How? You were shielded. I see the flows but you're not channeling?" Fear was showing plainly through her Aes Sedai calm.

"I am virtually untrained in the use of your One Power. That name is inaccurate as it is not the only power there is. I do not appreciate being called shadow spawn either. The people of Nekota have tails as do I. My tail no more makes me Shadow spawn than the ability to channel makes you a darkfriend as the Children of the Light claim." Meren turned away from Elaida acting for all the world like she no longer existed. She addressed the queen. "I apologize for my outburst your majesty; I however could not let your advisors slight stand unchallenged." She said with an apologetic curtsy.

"Yes, quite understandable." The queen said slowly as she regained her composure. "Your claims are too fantastic for belief however after that display I can believe they may be true."

"Every word I have spoken is the truth your majesty." Meren said with a slight nod. The fact that she had not remembered much of it until a few moments before and that she wasn't particularly pleased with the truth didn't matter.

"Very well Meren. May I ask why you are here? By your account you are a long way from home."

"Certainly. A short while ago an accident left me stranded on this world. I have since been traveling in search of a way to return home. I was just passing through your fair city when I recognized Rand. I met him shortly after arriving on this world. My finding him resulted in my meeting the daughter-heir and eventually this meeting. As to Rand's story I can verify most of it as the truth the remainder I simply have no first hand knowledge of. I do not believe he would try to harm you or yours."

"Morgase, you can not possibly believe any of this?" Elaida asked incredulously.

"What I choose to believe is my choice alone Elaida. And I find Meren's story to preposterous to be a lie. What evidence I have seen leads me to believe that she tells the truth."

"Your majesty if I may?" At the queen's nod Meren continued. "Many of my claims I can not directly prove, the evidence I offer is circumstantial at best. There is one aspect however that I believe I can prove with the good Captain-General's help."

Morgase nodded, "Proceed."

Meren turned Gareth Bryne unconsciously shifting back to her normal attire in the same fashion as she did before. The circlet remained however. "Lord Gareth. You lead this countries armies do you not? You therefore are well versed in military strategy. I request that you pose questions that only a military commander could answer satisfactorily. My answers should verify that I do know how to command an army."

Bryne nodded with a smile. "Very well…" for the next half hour he listed off various scenarios and listened as Meren provided her solutions. He also asked questions about logistics and maintaining an army that only a commander with field experience would be able to answer. Finely he nodded in respect. He turned to the queen "She has convinced me. Every one of her answers was almost exactly how I would have handled the same situation except for the last." He turned back to Meren. "A siege is the only viable option in that situation. How do you intend to get a force past the wall to lower the drawbridge as you propose? Against a well defended fort such a feat is impossible."

Meren smiled and suddenly jumped up and grabbed hold of a rafter high overhead. She laughed at the gasps of amazement as she hung their twenty feet off the ground. "Who said anything about sending a force over the wall? I intended to go myself. My skills are not limited to theoretical strategy and turning an Aes Sedai's own weaves against her. I could take on small armies on my own if necessary. I've always preferred small surgical raids over massive armies clashing anyway. I can deal with large armies but they tend to be too ungainly for my tastes." She dropped to the ground and turned to Tallanvor.

"That is why I said appearances are not always what they seem. Had Elayne not intervened when she did your men would have been holding kindling instead of bows." She said with a wry smile.

"That's impossible. There were twenty broad heads trained on you. You could not have disarmed them all that quickly." He replied.

Meren chuckled. "I jump seven paces strait up as if its nothing and you're telling me what's impossible. At best only one or two of your men could have released before their bows were destroyed if they had fast reflexes. One or two arrows I could have picked out of the air easily." The look on his face showed he was unconvinced. "I would be happy to give a demonstration later but I'll warn you it isn't pleasant to be holding a bow under tension when it is split."

"Very well" Morgase said with a smile. "You have convinced Lord Gareth that you are what you say you are and that says a lot about your ability to command. I am convinced as well even if my advisor is not."

Meren smiled and glanced at Elaida. If looks could kill Meren would have been dead long ago but Elaida tried anyway. _She probably doesn't like the taste of that rag._ After being interrupted one too many times Meren had finally gotten tired of listening to her. She didn't have the skill to gag her with the power but a rag tied into her mouth had proven just as effective.

"If you do not mind your Majesty…" Meren began.

"Please call me Morgase."

Meren nodded. "Morgase if you please I have taken enough of your time already and should be departing. I would appreciate it if I could take Rand with me. I will of course take full responsibility for him."

"You may depart if you wish. You are of course welcome to say here in the palace. Rooms can be made available for you immediately."

"Sadly I must decline your gracious offer." Meren replied with a shake of her head. "I must continue my journey soon and I would prefer if word of who I am did not spread beyond this room. A traveling fighter draws far less attention on the roads I must walk than a queen."

Morgase frowned slightly. "It is highly irregular for a visitor of your stature to not be a guest here in the palace. Surely you would find yourself more comfortable here than in some inn in the city."

Meren smiled softly. "Don't concern yourself with my comfort. I have been a member of the army since my thirteenth name day. I'm quite used to rough accommodations, and remaining here there would be no chance of concealing my identity.

"Very well you may leave and we will keep your confidences. All of us," she said sternly in Elaida's direction. "I release young Rand into your custody although I would ask that you ensure that he does not trespass again. Tallanvor. Escort our guests from the palace and show them every courtesy." The queen commanded.

Tallanvor saluted "Yes my Queen."

The queen looked back to Meren. "If you pass through this city again you are welcome to stay here at the palace. I would greatly enjoy speaking with you in the future."

Meren bowed to the queen. "I do not know where my search will lead me in the future. However I will gladly accept your gracious offer should my path lead me to your fair city once again and I find no need to hide who I am."

They made their goodbyes and soon Meren and Rand were out on the street. " Rand do you know where Mat is?"

Rand nodded numbly. "He is at the Queens Blessing."

Meren smacked her forehead. "You're staying there? I must have just missed you this morning I ate breakfast there. How come I didn't see Mat?"

"He won't leave his room. He isn't feeling well..."

Meren pondered this and then remembered why she had ended the audience with the queen. "Let's go get Moiraine and the others I'm sure shell know how to help him."

Rand stared at her. "Moiraine is here? The others are they alright?"

"Yes everybody is fine and they are all with Moiraine except for Thom I don't know where he is."

"He's dead." Rand said a bit forlornly.

"Whitebridge?" when he nodded she continued. "I suspected that fight might have been him. You may be right but nobody there knew what happened to him. And I didn't hear about a body either. There is a chance he made it. Still let's go get the others. Would you mind not telling the others what I said about myself in there?"

"Why not?" Rand asked.

"It may be who I was born to be but not who I am now. They don't know they don't need to know. To them I'm a solider and I would like to keep it that way." She looked at Rand for a few moments. "I wouldn't have even told them if I saw any other way out of that situation. I don't believe a word of what Elaida said about you but I was afraid that the queen might. Discrediting her was the only way I could see to prevent that and that required me to reveal who I was." Meren suddenly chuckled.

"What is it?"

"Oh I'm just thinking about how weird my life is. Last week I was a lost solider trying to get home. Three days ago I find out I'm a military commander and three hours ago I find out I'm an uncrowned queen. I hope I don't have any more surprises hiding in my memories. I'm not sure what could top being the heir to a country butt I don't want to find out."

Rand thought about what she said before nodding. He had enough questions about who he was. He wouldn't want his friends to treat him differently if it turned out he was someone other than who he thought he was. "I won't tell them unless you do."

Meren smiled at him. "Thanks, let's go, Moiraine is this way and I know you're anxious to see the others." Meren thought that Rand, happy as he was could have kept up with her no mater how fast she moved right then.

_To be continued… _

* * *

Well that's another chapter in the bag, And yes before anybody asks I know Meren ended up with a lot more screen time than Ranma in this one. Originally chapter 3 and 4 were one chapter. When it grew too large and I split them most of Ranma's stuff ended up in 4 and Meren's in 3. it was either leave it as is or start writing useless scenes just to give them extra time in each chapter.

I've been too busy to work on this the last few days so it took me a while to get this out. Expect chap 4 in a day or so, I just want to give it another once-over before I post it but that will have to wait on my schedule.

Few quick answers. Will Ranma end up learning to channel as a girl? Yes. As a guy as well? Haven't decided yet. Will Ranma end up perma girl? No although obviously turning guy in the WT will be bad. Got something planed to allow him to lock/unlock his curse at will in chap 5. since he doesn't want anybody else finding out about the curse hell be semi stuck as a girl for a while however and will be forced to deal with his girl side.

Don't think I've read a WOT/Ranma crossover by someone named Strider. I've seen a few that could have been good but only one over 3 or 4 chapters. Cant remember what the name of it was but most of the cast was involved and somehow Akane and ukyo both ended up with drowned man curses and Akane ended up becoming a false dragon for a while and ukyo was Ranma's warder. You'll have to give me more info on finding that fic for me to find out if I've read it or not (do you realize how many hits I got putting in Strider as a pen name?)

Malichite: good things come to those that wait. Skill wise Meren using sword vs Ranma going full out no neko the fight would be pretty even. Of course at the moment if Meren really wanted to kill him she could using that crowd pleaser attack she used in the prologue assuming she didn't mind wiping out everybody in the general area as well. Still in a non lethal match they will be pretty close to even particularly once Ranma learns to channel. The disparity your noticing up to chapter 2 is Ranma holding back against Meren going full out unarmed while occasionally surprising him with sneaky moves. I also have non channeling powers in store for Ranma but plot wise it doesn't make since to give them to him soon.


	5. Choices

Disclaimer: Characters not mine, situations not mine, yada yada yada. Go read the prologue's disclaimer it still applys.

* * *

Time and a half Chapter 4, Choices 

Meren was standing in the stable yard of the Queens Blessing with Ranma. The others had just gone inside although Ranma seemed reluctant to go in; she kept muttering something about cats. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Meren broke it first.

"Um… I'm sorry… about earlier and all. I shouldn't have hit you regardless of how I was feeling at the time."

The depressed look on Meren's face broke Ranma's heart. "It's alright really. You've hit me harder in our matches."

"No it isn't alright. What you said hurt but you had no way of knowing that at the time. My actions were inexcusable."

_Geez she's more upset about this than I am_ Ranma thought. Ranma wasn't sure how to help her friend. As far as she was concerned there wasn't any point in holding a grudge, it wasn't as if it hurt for more than a few minutes. "Do you want to talk about why you were so upset? It was a memory wasn't it?"

Meren nodded suppressing a sniffle. "Yes, a painful one."

Ranma congratulated herself on being so perceptive. _Yep talking is a good safe bet when a girl is upset. I may figure them out after all._ "So who died?" She stepped back when Meren's head came up suddenly with a glare on her face. _Or not. _Ranma could swear she heard another voice in her head say _smooth, real smooth._

After a moment Meren shook her head with a sigh. "You have the tact of a Ragnoll and are about as subtle…" she turned away looking out into the ally. "It was my father."

Ranma wasn't sure what a ragnoll was but understood loosing her father could be rough. "I'm sorry, about your father and sticking my foot in my mouth again."

"You like making flippant remarks to break the ice when you don't know what to say. Normally I find them amusing but that one just struck a little too close to home."

"I'm sorry." Ranma said again.

Meren laughed gently. "Stop apologizing. I'm the one apologizing to you." She turned to her friend with a silly grin on her face even though her eyes were red. "You wait your turn." She then stuck out her tongue.

Both of them started laughing at the absurdity of that statement. "Still friends?" Meren asked. Ranma nodded, "Still friends." She replied with a smile. She was a bit surprised when Meren suddenly hugged her. What surprised her more was she actually liked being hugged a bit.

"So what was that about cats?" Meren asked. "You were mumbling about them earlier."

"Oh that? Haha." She laughed a bit manically scratching the back of her head. "I just sorta have a problem with c c cats. Nothing to be afraid of."

Meren cocked her head as she observed her friends odd behavior. "Ailurophobic?" she asked.

"Ailurowhatsis?" Ranma replied in a confused voice.

Meren smirked "sorry I meant are you afraid of cats."

"Oh no nothing like that… I mean who would be…" her head drooped as she sighed "yes."

Meren smiled and put her arm around Ranma's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Cats aren't all that hard to deal with if you just- something's wrong! Moiraine is channeling" she said looking up and to the right. She suddenly dashed into the Inn. As Ranma followed she could hear her friend making a hissing noise that sounded disturbingly like a cat. Ranma also noticed that the only sign she saw of the several cats in the inn were their tails retreating around corners away from them.

The reached the doorway to Mat's room and Meren hissed as she drew her knife. Lan was holding Mat's wrist preventing from slashing Moiraine with a ruby hilted dagger. "What's going on?" Ranma whispered to Meren.

"Mashadar." Meren whispered back not taking her eyes off Mat. Her knife was beginning to glow.

"That thing from Shadar Logoth? It's in Mat?"

"Not quite but his aura is now almost identical to what I saw throughout that city." Meren said grimly.

"All of you out." Moiraine commanded as she pulled out the angrel. "I will do what I can, I hope for the sake of the world I'm not too late."

The others filed out of the room but Meren lingered. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Just leave me in peace. Copying what I do without knowledge could make maters worse. Watch over the others." Moiraine said.

Meren nodded and backed out of the room.

Ranma and Meren joined the others in the library but remained apart. They both liked the others well enough but they shared a closer bond of friendship with each other. They spoke quietly while the two rivers folk caught up.

"Meren, I've been wondering what's that thing your wearing on your head?"

"What?" she asked raising a hand to her head. When she felt the coronet from before she drew her knife and examined her reflection. "I almost forgot about that. It just appeared when I had the confrontation with Elaida. It looks different than I thought it would."

"Who's Elaida?"

"Oh she's the Aes Sedai advisor to the queen. I don't like her at all and the feelings mutual. She tried to shield me and tie me up with the power but I… oops." She said covering her mouth to suppress a giggle.

"Ok give, what's so funny?" Ranma asked crossing her arms.

Meren smiled broadly. "Well I mimicked her weaves and she ended up shielded and bound. The problem is I've been maintaining my power all this time.

Ranma started to snicker. "You mean…?"

"Yep she's been standing there like a statue for hours." Both laughed at that.

"She's soooo going to hate you for that."

Meren just brushed that aside. "I'm not too worried about it. She couldn't hurt me physically and anything she does with the power I'll just throw strait back at her. I better let her go though." The Triforce marks faded as she cut off the flow of energy. The coronet broke up into motes of light before fading as well. "Hrm that must be tied to my powers. I'll have to play with it later and find out what it's for."

Meren suddenly sagged and Ranma griped her arm to keep her from falling. "Are you alright?"

Meren nodded. "Just a little tired. Maintaining that didn't require all that much energy but I've been holding it for hours now. I don't feel the fatigue as much while I'm holding my power but when I release it…"

Both girls sat down in some padded chairs in the corner as they waited for Moiraine to finish upstairs.

"What's a ragnoll?"

"Huh? Where'd you hear about those?" Meren replied quizzically.

"You mentioned them outside. Said I had the tact of one."

"Ahh I guess I did," she muttered while leaning back. "Nothing to worry about, just a monster from back home. Big and strong but not overly bright, similar to a Trolloc I guess. N'mer used them for shock troops back on Nekota."

"Oh about trollocs, we found traces of a whole bunch of them around the city."

"What? I didn't…" Meren trailed off with a sigh. "I guess I wasn't in much of a condition to notice something like that last night. If they are after the boys still I don't see what we can do aside from fighting our way out and keep fighting them on our way to Tar Valon. Trollocs aren't all that much of a threat to the two of us but if they send enough they'll wear us down."

Ranma shrugged. "Its not like we have a better choice unless Moiraine comes up with something."

Before long Mat arrived followed by Moiraine. After a few assurances that Mat was well enough for the time being talk shifted to the situation they faced. The trollocs surrounding the city remained hidden for the time being but eventually they would attack to find the boys. In addition to this a new threat was revealed to the Eye of the World. One by one the two rivers folk made their decision to go with Moiraine through the ways.

"And what of you two? Moiraine asked turning to Meren and Ranma. "I know you intend to go to Tar Valon and you have the option of doing so after we leave. The trollocs may not bother you and I suspect you wouldn't care if they did. You are a part of the pattern as well. The timing of your arrival suggests that you may have a role to play in this battle. The choice however is yours."

>What do you think?> Meren asked Ranma. >this could delay us but it may also help. Examining the Ways may give me a clue to getting home but it's a long shot at best.>

>I'm not sure I like the sound of these Ways. Don't I have enough risk of madness without going in there?>

>I don't like the idea of going mad either but there are other things to consider as well. This threat sounds like it could be the end of this world if not dealt with. I don't know if it could affect our worlds but it will defiantly affect us if we are still here when that happens.>

>I know that, I would go anyway because I don't abandon friends in need. That doesn't mean I have to like what we need to do.>

>Then I guess like the others we have no choice> Meren said with a touch of finality in her voice. Ranma nodded her agreement.

"Well go with you and help you however we can. This may not be our world but while we are here we are bound to its fate. We also wouldn't let friends face this alone." Meren said to the rest of the room.

Moiraine nodded. "Our choices are made, then," She said. "And now that they are made, we must decide what to do about them and how." The planning went well into the night. Ranma and Meren offered their input at times but mostly left the planning to Moiraine, she knew what they would be facing after all.

"Sometimes I wonder if well ever get home." Meren said as she sat down on the end of her bed. "I feel like I'm being led along with a carrot on a string. There is always a hint of a way home but the goal never gets any closer."

"Don't say things like that. Well never get home if you give up." Ranma said sitting on her own bed. She was a bit leery about sleeping in the same room with Meren. True they had been sleeping back to back more often than not while traveling but it just felt different with a roof over their head.

Meren sighed. "I know, I won't give up but I'm just feeling a little depressed right now. A lot has happened today and it doesn't help that I haven't slept in two days."

Ranma only understood a little of the emotional wringer Meren had been through today. There had been aspects of her day Meren refused to talk about. "At least your memories are coming back slowly. Any luck on remembering how you got us here?"

Meren nodded. "That actually came back last night when… well anyway. When my father was… killed by N'mer I went a little nuts. I used a massive spell on him. I have a feeling that the spell was already my most powerful attack and I caused it to overload. The recoil was enough to send me ripping through dimensions and I just happened to run into you."

"Can this help you get us home? You did mention that knowing how you got us here could help. Can you do it backwards?"

Meren laughed. "Still think performing that spell backwards would work eh? I don't think it would work anyway. I was so mad that the spell was completely out of control. I doubt I could put that much energy into that spell under normal circumstances. Even if I could there is no way to be sure it would throw me through dimensions again let alone bring you with me. There would also be no way to know where we'd land."

"Oh… you think we could land somewhere worse." Ranma could understand not wanting to try that. This world really wasn't all that bad when you got used to it.

Meren nodded. "That and I'm worried about the collateral damage."

Ranma glanced over at her. "What do you mean?"

Meren didn't answer for a while. "That spell is powerful… Very powerful…" she said hesitantly.

Ranma was concerned for her friend. She knew Meren had strong powers and shuddered to think what could cause her pause. "How bad is it?"

Meren sighed. "At full power it could probably transform most of this city into a smoking crater. And that's without causing it to go wild."

Ranma was stunned. She and Ryoga could cause a fair amount of damage. A few of their fights had leveled buildings but a whole city? "You're sure about this?" she asked slowly.

Meren nodded, she seemed on the verge of tears. "I have vague memories of a time I was ordered to test fire this spell. The target was an enemy army that was invading. I thought it would kill some but cause enough mayhem to make the remainder retreat. In the end I expected the show of force would save lives over a slugging match between their army and mine…" he voice trailed off as she choked up a bit.

Ranma gave her a few moments before prompting her. "What happened?"

"A crater over a mile across and an entire army wiped off the face of the planet." She said dully.

_An entire army?_ Ranma wasn't even sure she wanted to think about that many men dieing all at once. How much blood did her friend have on her young hands? "How many?"

"Too many. I don't know if we ever had an accurate count. Needless to say even though they were an enemy and I saved the lives of my men and my people it still hurts."

Ranma looked at her softly sobbing friend. She had never had to kill an opponent before aside from maybe a few trollocs in Shadar Logoth. She didn't like that and couldn't even come close to fathoming what Meren now felt. _Are you going to sit here all night or are you going to help her?_ Asked a voice in Ranma's head. _Huh? _

_Just go put your arm around her shoulder. Trust me. _

_Who are you?_ She asked but received no response. She had heard this voice a few times before since becoming cursed but it never tried to tell her what to do before. Taking a chance she moved over and sat down next to Meren and put an arm around her shoulder.

Meren almost immediately turned and began crying into her friends shoulder. Every awful memory that has surfaced over the last two days came to the fore as she was wracked by sobs. Ranma just held her as she cried. She had no experience with this situation and hoped that instinct would be enough to help her friend.

It was sometime later that Meren finally fell quiet. Looking down Ranma found that she had fallen asleep. Picking the blond fighter up she gently laid her down on her bed. Looking down on the Meren's sleeping form she pondered her feelings for the girl. Both of them had seen and done things that none their age should have been exposed too. It had made both of them stronger and gave them common ground for a strong bond to form between them. However Ranma feared that Meren had seen far more pain and suffering than she had.

Ranma wondered if it would be so bad being stuck on this world if Meren was there with her. She missed her friends and family. However in the short time that they had known each other Meren had become a better friend to Ranma than anybody back home despite the occasional problem. She asked nothing for her friendship except that it be returned in kind. All her friends back home wanted something from her.

Honor demanded that she return home to marry Akane or one of the other girls that her pop had engaged her too. She also had to one day face her mother as well. There was also the fact that any hope of a cure for her curse lay back home as well. _But if we were stuck here forever…_ she wondered what she would do if that happened. Nobody would expect her to hold to the agreements made by her father if there was no way she could return to fulfill them. Wouldn't she be able to live her own life?

_Could I make a life here with Meren?_ Ranma immediately shook herself trying to clear that thought away. _I have enough girl troubles_ She thought _she's just a friend_. _Besides well get home, best not to think about things like that._ She wondered why she felt a sense of regret as she lay down on her own bed to catch a few hours of sleep.

* * *

_Ranma found himself in a huge stone chamber filled with people. A great many of the people in the center of the room were dancing to the music of a waltz. Ranma thought it looked like a royal ballroom scene strait out of a movie. Then he spotted Meren. _

_She was wearing a long blue and white dress that looked stunning as she swirled across the dance floor. The expression on her face told Ranma that she was greatly enjoying herself. "Wow she looks good in that." Ranma said to himself as he watched. He noticed that Meren's dance partner looked like he would rather be anywhere else. _

_"I always liked dancing." The ghostly Meren said from his left. "The nobles that attended these balls were afraid of me though. They couldn't shun me outright but at best none of the men would dance more than once." She looked sadden by the memory. _

_"But why would you be here anyway? Why would a solider be coming to a dance with nobles and royalty?" Ranma asked hoping to get a response. _

_"Oh they were more than happy to have the youngest captain in the history of the knights protect their kingdom but one dance was as much as they could stand." She shook her head in frustration. "A dangerous weapon, that's how they saw me. Point me at their enemies and watch them crumble but they wouldn't want to get near me if they could avoid it. Except for those that wanted use me to gain power." _

_'a weapon?' Ranma thought, 'from what she said about taking out the army I can see how they could think that but still. It isn't right to treat someone like that.' He watched as the dance ended. Meren's partner made a courteous bow and then was gone so fast he must have teleported away. _

_Meren sighed and looked around for another dance partner but every likely candidate was otherwise engaged. With a sigh she sat down in an ornate chair near the throne. "Must be a place of honor for their military leader to be so near the throne." Ranma mused to himself. _

_"You should ask her to dance." _

_Ranma turned to stare at the ghostly form of Meren. "You mean you can see me? How can I ask her to dance I'm not really here." He waved his arm through a man standing nearby to prove his point. _

_The phantom wasn't even looking at him. She smiled, "yes someone should cheer her/me up." She faded from view. _

_"What the?" Ranma looked around but ghostly Meren was gone. He found himself looking back to the real Meren when he felt a hand on his shoulder. _

_"Well are you going to ask her to dance or not?" said a large man with short sandy blond hair. "She doesn't bite young officers that hard." _

_"but I-" _

_the man chuckled gave him a shove "Oh get going. Otherwise well come up with something else for you to do to pay back that wager you lost." _

_Ranma staggered a bit but started making his way towards Meren. 'what's going on? I've never been able to interact with these dreams before.' He looked down to find his clothing had changed. He was wearing shiny black shoes, pressed gray slacks and a sky blue dress shirt. Over the shirt he was wearing a dark coat, the sleeves were embroidered with a fiery pattern that wound its way up the arm terminating in what looked like a birds head made of fire. He could swear some of the flames looked like feathers as well. _

_He didn't have much time to contemplate the sudden change of wardrobe as he found himself standing in front of Meren. She was resting her chin in her palm as she leaned on the armrest with a bored expression on her face. She looked up as he approached. "Did you need something?" she asked. _

_"I… uh… I mean…" Ranma stammered before deciding he might as well do as he was told. "I was wondering if I could have this dance." _

_Meren looked at him with a thoughtful expression for a moment before smiling. "Lieutenant Ranar right? Did Dan put you up to this?" _

_Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um… sorta I guess." 'Come to think of it that guy did look like the officer the other Meren called Dan.' _

_Meren smiled and shook her head. "It's a sweet gesture but you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Dan would offer himself I'm sure, but he's such a bad dancer that everybody in the room would have broken feet from him stepping on them." She looked over to where Dan was standing. He smiled and raised a glass as if toasting to her. Meren chuckled as she turned back to Ranma. "Go on I'm sure you'd rather be doing something else. You don't have to suck up to your commander like that." _

_'Hey I don't suck up to anybody' Ranma thought indignantly as he straitened. "No I really would like to dance with you." _

_Meren appraised him a moment longer before offering her hand to him. "Very well it would be a pleasure to dance with you." She said with a smile as he helped her to her feet. _

_A space cleared around them as Ranma led Meren out onto the dance floor. A new song was struck up and the couple began to dance. Ranma shocked himself as they twirled around the dance floor. He had never danced like this before and yet they moved together as if they had been practicing for years. He found it strangely enjoyable as he held Meren close through some of the turns. _

_Meren laughed merrily as they danced. The couple was the center of attention as the other dancers made room for them. Ranma found that he was sorry to have it end when the song finished. _

_"You're a wonderful dancer my young knight." Meren smiled at him. "I'm sure that will satisfy whatever bet you lost with the others." _

_Ranma gaped at her. "How..?" _

_"Please. You don't think this is the first time Dan has tried this now do you?" she laughed. "He and a few of the others still see me as a kid sister of sorts. They are always trying to set "Their Captain" up with some new young officer." Meren smirked as if remembering past attempts. "I put up with their antics but I get them back too. Go on your off the hook." She turned to head back to her seat. _

_Ranma watched her go as his emotions warred within him. Part of him was telling him to ask for another dance while part of him was saying to avoid girls at all costs. In the end the phantoms last words echoing in his mind tipped the scales. He boldly strode across the room and stopped in front of Meren. _

_"I would be honored if you would consent to dance with me again my fair lady." 'Yuck I think I just sounded like Kuno.' The pleased look on Meren's face made spouting that drivel worth it. She was positively beaming. _

_Meren offered her hand once more. "It would be a pleasure my shining knight." _

_"The pleasure is mine my lovely princess." He bowed and kissed the offered hand. Had he not he would have seen her expression waver for a moment at his words. "Shall we dance?" he asked leading her gently back to the dance floor. The danced for several more enjoyable songs before the world faded away. _

_

* * *

_

The girls were woken by Moiraine a few hours later. Meren could have used much more sleep but years in the army had trained her body to wake fully regardless of how little sleep she had. "Thanks," she said to Ranma as they filed downstairs with the others.

"For what?" Ranma asked. D_oes she remember dancing in the dream last night? _

"For giving me a shoulder to cry on last night. Believe it or not that helped more than you know." She gave Ranma a small smile and squeezed her friend's hand.

"Oh well… it just seemed like it was the right thing to do." She said a touch nervously. Normally Meren was friendly and energetic but otherwise unshakeable. Last night she had been distraught and now she was acting almost sweet. Ranma wasn't sure what to make of these mood swings. She really did wonder if perhaps Meren remembered something about the dream.

>you know for not having much experience as a girl you catch on quick.> Meren chuckled as Ranma started to splutter a denial. >Don't worry your still a guy to me even when you're in this form.>

_I'll never understand girls._ Ranma thought as she followed along. _But you do so well when you just relax,_ a small voice in her had commented. _I guess…_ she thought. A girlish giggle echoed in her mind

* * *

The Ways were a disappointment to the pair. Meren could see what she could only describe as a folding in the various energy patterns of the room where the Waygate sat. If anything the Waygate itself reminded Meren of what her pouch did to make so much fit inside. The inside of the ways had been even less helpful. Phantom signatures drifted everywhere making the Trimirida almost useless. Nothing about their trip through the Ways lead the pair any closer to a way home. And then there was that little incident getting out of the ways. 

_Ok maybe that wasn't such a bright idea._ Meren thought as she looked up at the blue sky overhead. The joy she felt at seeing blue sky instead of the oppressive darkness of the ways was tempered by the position she was in now. Laying flat on your back on a stone slab while aching all over is not a good position to enjoy anything.

"Meren! Are you all right?" yelled Ranma running towards her from where the Waygate's entrance was.

"Why is it that people always ask that question when the answer is obvious?" Meren growled in response. "Of course I'm alright. It's perfectly natural for my arm to have an extra joint there." She howled in pain as she remembered that shaking a broken arm for effect was a worse idea than breaking it in the first place.

Ranma knelt next Meren glad that her friend was still alive. "Well your sense of humor is ok still. What the heck did you just do?"

* * *

"The _Avendesora_ leaf is not here!" Moiraine said in shock. "The key is gone!" 

_Just great what are we going to do now?_ Ranma thought in desperation. _Cant run but I'm not going down without a fight_. She turned back the way they had come and prepared herself to fight for her life. She didn't know what she could do against something like the black wind but she wouldn't give up. _Maybe a Moko Takabisha… wait what's Meren doing back there?_

Meren was standing on the path from the last island facing away from the Waygate the party was gathered around. She held both arms out in front of her pointing her fists off into the darkness. Golden energy coruscated along her arms and Ranma could feel the power building even from where she stood. She watched as Meren opened her hands cupped towards her unseen foe, the energy coalescing into a glowing ball between her palms. _Light above why is she using that?_ Screamed the voice in her mind

Then Ranma heard Meren shout and a beam of pure golden light lanced out into the darkness detonating some distance away. The Black Wind's chorus of voices howled in pain as the blast struck home. As the beam lanced out Meren suddenly rocketed backwards. "Look out!" Ranma yelled as Lan barely pulled Moiraine out of the way. A massive crash was heard as Meren careened into the locked Waygate.

Where once there had been a carved stone door now stood what looked like a smoky window to a desolate landscape.

"Everybody out! Hurry!" Moiraine commanded as the party piled through the gate as quickly as possible.

The ground outside was scored as if a large stone block had been plowed through the earth in a perfectly strait line. Some distance away, at the end of the scored line of earth, they could just make out the remains of the gates doors, and something lying on top. Ranma broke into a run.

* * *

"Don't argue just do it" Meren said through clenched teeth. 

"Alright but this is going to hurt." Ranma said and then gave Meren's left arm a sharp tug setting the broken bone. "Well need to get something to splint it."

"No kidding that hurt." Meren muttered. The mark on her forehead flared to life and a blue glow formed around her right hand.

"What are you doing?" Ranma asked as Meren slowly swept her glowing hand back and forth along the break in her arm. As she watched the cuts and scrapes on that arm faded away.

Meren looked puzzled. "I don't know. I'm just doing this on reflex." The blue glow faded and she experimentally tested her arm. After a few seconds she pushed herself up using the now healed arm. "I guess I can heal myself."

"I guess so but how did you survive that in the first place? At the speed you were going you should have broken every bone in your body not just your arm. Look." Ranma pointed to the door of the Waygate that Meren had been lying on. It was sheared off cleanly along the edges of the gate. The only other damage was the scored line where Moiraine had been attempting to burn her way through. "You hit that thing hard enough to blow it clean off its hinges and drag it over five hundred yards along the ground."

"That attack expends a lot of energy. The backlash probably absorbed most of the impact." Meren explained and then winced as she moved. She had only healed the arm but the rest of her felt like a giant bruise. "But not all of it."

"Was that… attack… you know?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

"The one that landed us here? Yes although much weaker. That was about half power." Meren started rubbing a kink out of her neck. "So how'd that shot do aside from the unintended door opening aspect?"

"Well I don't think you killed it but I don't think the black wind liked what you did." Ranma said. "When I left it sounded like it was in pain."

"You ran it off." Both girls turned to see Moiraine approaching. "Machin Shin was retreating when we exited the ways. It seems you are full of surprises."

"Ya a blast that's almost as dangerous to me as to my target. Real fun surprise there." Meren muttered dryly, still massaging her sore muscles. "That heal spell could be useful if I can figure out exactly what I just did though."

Moiraine nodded. "Useful, not even Aes Sedai can heal themselves with the power, only others." She turned and pointed to the north where tall towers could be seen over the tops of the barren trees. "We must hurry. To Fal Dara."

* * *

_I hate waiting for something to happen,_ Ranma thought as she paced back and forth. They were waiting in the study of Agelmar, Lord of Fal Dara, for Moiraine to finish questioning Padan Fain, the darkfriend peddler that had apparently followed them here. Everyone had their own way of passing the time, for Ranma it was a pacing contest between her and Rand. _Stupid thing to compete over_ she thought as she realized what she was doing. Rand wasn't even aware of the silent contest. Looking around she found Meren deep in thought with a troubled look on her face. 

"What's wrong Meren?" she asked sitting down next to her friend.

"Hmm? Oh it's nothing Ranko, just thinking." The blond warrior replied not even looking up.

Ranma looked at her friend, it was obvious something was deeply troubling her. "Must be some battle going on in there, are you winning or losing?"

Meren blinked at her friend in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Well that's the same expression you have on your face when you fight a battle. If you're just thinking it must be a pretty serious fight in your head." Ranma had a silly grin on her face as she spoke.

Stared dumbfounded at her friend for a few moments and then a smile crept across her face. "You're trying to cheer me up aren't you?"

Ranma nodded "How'm I doing?"

"Pretty good actually, I'm surprised you noticed, maybe I'm rubbing off on you." She teased.

Ranma glanced down at herself. "I don't see any of you on me."

Meren snorted as she tried to suppress a laugh. "It's a figure of speech."

"Oh."

Meren smiled and shook her head at how clueless her friend could be at times. "I suppose you want to know what I was thinking about."

"Only if you want to tell me," Ranma said.

Meren shrugged, "it might help to talk about it. I was trying to figure out if I was making a mistake."

"A mistake? About what?"

"About this quest. I want to go to the eye to help the others but since I heard about the plight these soldiers will face… I feel like something inside is pulling me towards their fight not Moiraine's." Meren shook her head as if clearing stray thoughts. "I just don't know what to do, which path is the correct one."

"I apologize for eavesdropping but I couldn't help but overhear." Both girls looked up to find Agelmar standing next to them. "Unless you are an Aes Sedai in disguise one more sword will not make a difference at Tarwin's Gap. If you are half as good with that," he pointed to the hilt of Meren's sword. "As you appear to be you could make a difference in the blight though. There is no man better than Lan to lead you safely through the blight but even he can not face everything in the blight alone."

Meren chuckled "You are probably right, I am not an Aes Sedai, the potential yes but I am untrained. I wouldn't however discount my sword in your battle either. Not two months past Ranko and I faced a band of fifty trollocs and an Eyeless with nothing but my sword and her fists and we won."

Agelmar looked them up and down as he tried to determine if the girl before him was serious or boasting. "If true you could be strong allies in the fight but not enough to turn the tide. Moiraine Sedai will need all the help she will accept in the Blight, you can make a difference there."

Meren nodded and began contemplating her boots again. Ranma found the silence uncomfortable and tried to break it. "So, is Lan really a king?"

Agelmar chuckled. "You overheard my tale did you? Yes, Malkier may have fallen to the blight but Lan is the uncrowned king of Malkier. He refuses to lead but if he raised the banner of the golden crane men from across the borderlands would follow him into battle."

"So he's a king but doesn't want to be?" Ranma asked.

"He has his own private war with the shadow. He is too late to save his land but not too late for vengeance. I do not believe he will accept a crown until the shadow is defeated." Agelmar bowed out and returned to talking with Egwene and Nynaeve.

"I think it would be fun to be a king as long as I could still fight. Lan seems to have no problem with that at least." Ranma turned to her friend. "What about you Meren? Wouldn't you like to be a Warrior queen?"

Meren suddenly choked and coughed for a moment before muttering "Not really."

_That was an odd reaction, I wonder what that was all about._ Ranma thought.

_Actually that was the most normal reaction I've seen from her yet, _laughed a voice in her head.

_What do you mean?_ She thought back but got no response. She muttered under her breath about annoying mental voices and their cryptic messages. _And why is it so talkative all of a sudden?_ She'd heard it more times in the last few days than she'd heard it since becoming cursed.

_The question you should be asking is why are you suddenly listening._ Ranma ground her teeth in frustration. It wasn't bad enough to be going nuts and hearing voices but the damn thing was taunting her. Moiraine's return to the room drove such thoughts from her mind.

* * *

_This trip keeps getting better and better,_ Ranma thought disgustedly. First she and Meren had been told they had to ride. Meren wasn't happy about it but at least she knew how to ride. Ranma not knowing the first thing about riding a horse had received a crash course in riding from Meren. 

_First riding a horse, then having to tromp through this discussing forsaken pit they call the blight, and now were running from worms._ That last bothered her the most, sure they were big enough to eat a man whole but they were still worms. They raced across the blight up into the foothills of the Mountains of Dhoom. The only consolation Ranma could pull from the situation was that whatever lay ahead was bad enough to scare the worms.

"Were not going to make it." Lan announced drawing his sword. "Watch yourself in the high passes Moiraine."

"Lan even you can not stop a Worm pack, I will not have it. I will need you for the Eye." Moiraine said.

Meren road up alongside Ranma and tied her reigns to Ranma's saddle. "Maybe he can't but I can."

"What do you think your doing?" Ranma asked, similar exclamations echoed from the others.

Meren just looked at Ranma with a grim look on her face. "Go with them, keep them safe. I will buy you the time to reach safety and join you if I can." Meren leapt off her horse.

"Meren!" Ranma tried to stop her horse but it decided it was smarter than its rider. The voice in her head made an exasperated sound. _That hasn't changed either. Oh it's a threat lets blow it up._

"Shut up you!" Ranma growled under her breath still trying to stop the horse.

"Don't stop RUN!" Meren yelled and braced herself to fight. _Wait a minute what do I need the stupid horse for anyway?_ Just when she resolved to jump off and follow Meren there was a bright flash from behind and the blight was suddenly gone. Wildflowers sprang up through lush green grasses and birds sang from the branches of trees covered in new spring leaves. Ranma was finally able to stop her horse when the others stopped.

"We have reached Safety," Moiraine said. "This is the Green man's place and the eye of the world is here. Nothing of the blight can enter here."

Ranma turned to look behind them, Meren did not follow. "We have to go back and help Meren. It's not that far."

"If you leave you will not be able to find your way back." Said a deep voice from among the trees. "This place was made so that any who found it could only do so once."

Ranma looked to the source of the voice. "A walking plant?" she was looking at a man that towered even over Loial and appeared to be made of vines and other plants.

"He is the Green Man," Moiraine said. "As to Meren, the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. If she does not follow it means she has a different path before her." She turned to the Green Man. "We have come to see the Eye."

The Green Man nodded. "So it has come again." He rumbled "The dark one stirs once again. The need of the world is why you have found this place again Moiraine Aes Sedai."

"If you can come here twice so can I. I'm going back for Meren." Ranma said turning around.

"Do not be a fool girl. She can take care of herself. The fact that you are here and she is not is proof that your path lies here and hers lies elsewhere." Moiraine admonished.

"Are you saying we should abandon her?" Ranma yelled back.

"No I'm saying we must do what we came to do. She will do what she must."

If anything Ranma found Moiraine's calm insufferable. _She's right you know. Besides if she did what I think she did there's no knowing where she landed. _ The voice was really beginning to piss Ranma off. _Shut up and get out of my head. _

She continued to fume as the party was lead by the Green Man to the Eye. She didn't even notice when the he placed flowers in her hair along with the other women as they walked. Bright blue and white blossoms were woven into her pigtail and adorning the rest of her hair by the time they reached the Eye.

Ranma's curiosity finally overwhelmed her sense of concern over Meren as they moved underground and eventually into the Chamber of the Eye. _Those crystals almost look like Light bulbs._ She thought looking at the facetted gems that lit the chamber. In the center of the massive room was a large pool that actually did resemble an eye. The pool was filled with what looked like impossibly clear water, water that didn't move or ripple at all even when Mat kicked a stone into it.

"What the heck is that stuff?" Ranma asked as the stone seemed to expand and disintegrate as it fell through the liquid.

"You could call it the essence of _Saidin_" Moiraine said calmly.

_Saidin! The male half of the power. If I changed back could I?_ Ranma shuddered, she didn't want to think of that possibility. If she could channel _Saidin_ it meant she could also go mad. _Of course I already have that stupid voice in my head. _ The party shortly returned to the surface. Nynaeve was beginning to argue with Moiraine once again when two men interrupted them.

"I have found you at last."

Ranma appraised the two new arrivals. One was wrapped in a dark green cloak the other a dark gray, both had the hoods hiding their faces. "Who are you? How did you come here?" she heard Lan ask cautiously. Ranma tensed when the man in green pointed to Mat. She didn't listen to what he said; she was fixated on the hand. _Old and shriveled like the ghouls or the old goat's, these two could be trouble._ The thought that these two could be ancient martial arts masters concerned and excited her. This would be a good fight.

Ranma was even more sure when they pulled back their hoods. The one in green was even more ancient looking than either Happosi or Cologne. The other wore what looked like a hard leather mask shaped and painted to look like a laughing young man. _What's he hiding under there?_

"The Forsaken, are bound…" Mat hoarsely croaked causing Ranma to start. _Those evil Aes Sedai from three thousand years ago Moiraine told us about._ Ranma now was fully alert. These two were dangerous.

Lan launched himself at the two men but was bated out of the air by nothing slamming into the entrance to the Eye. Ranma entered the Umisen-Ken fading from sight as Nynaeve threw herself at the men. _Damn_ she thought as the wisdom was caught by the man in the leather mask and began to scream. Ranma struck the arm holding Nynaeve in the air breaking it. The man released a wordless scream of pain and rage as he dropped the girl. Ranma picked up Nynaeve and dashed off to safety before either of the men could react.

Depositing Nynaeve behind the structure that made up the entrance to the eye she turned to reenter the fight. _She should be safe here for now_, she thought. When she reached the others the masked man was grappled with the Green man. _What the hell?_ She watched in shock as flames burst out of the green man and plants started sprouting out of the masked Forsaken. Both collapsed, the forsaken looking more like the green man once had, the Green man was mostly char. As she watched a huge oak sprouted and grew at an impossible speed complexly covering the place where the Green man had fallen.

"Enough it is past time to end this!" The other Forsaken yelled.

"Yes, past time." Moiraine said with icy calm as the ground beneath the man opened into a chasm and flames poured forth from beneath.

_What is he?_ The man just stood there in mid air and smiled. He began to take slow ponderous steps through midair towards the Aes Sedai. "Run! All of you Run!" Moiraine commanded. Ranma once again used the Umisen-Ken to vanish as she waited for a moment to strike. She moved closer as the others ran.

The man stepped fully out of the fire on to hard ground. His clothing was singed in a few patches but otherwise none the worse for ware. "Impressive for a half-trained whelp. Let me show you how its done." With a gesture Moiraine was lifted into the air, she threw back her head and screamed. Ranma moved.

Dashing in unseen by those still present she charged the forsaken. _Have to drop him fast_ she thought as she closed the distance in an instant. Just before reaching him she smashed into an invisible barrier that felt harder than a brick wall. She fell back stunned as her invisibility faded.

"Not this time," he said with a smirk. "That is a cute trick but I will not let you use it twice." With a casual flick of his wrist something hard struck the side of Ranma's head sending her flying through the air. _That felt like one of Ryoga's punches_ was all that came to the dazed girls mind as she crashed into the wall and collapsed down onto the unconscious Lan. The blow wasn't enough to knock her out although it came close.

"I do not have time for this." The forsaken said allowing Moiraine to collapse in a heap. "The boy is more important than you insects." He turned and left far more quickly than a man of his age should have been capable of.

Ranma staggered to her feet and started to follow as best she could. She noticed a water flask that had fallen near the chasm. An experimental touch proved that it was quite warm. After a quick look around to ensure that nobody could see she dumped the flask over her head. Dropping the skin to the ground he set out in pursuit of the last Forsaken.

He found the man facing Rand who he had cornered on the edge of a cliff. Ranma knew he had to act quickly or the man would kill Rand but what could he do. The man had proven that he would not let Ranma close. Ranma's only option was the Moko Takabisha but that would sweep the man off the cliff to his death if it did not kill him outright. _Can I kill him?_ Ranma thought as everything Meren had said to him flashed through his mind.

'I don't like to kill but sometimes there is no choice.' 'if I must kill to protect my friends and those I care for so be it!' 'I will not leave an enemy bent on my destruction alive to try again!' Ranma could almost hear his friend speak the words in his mind. This forsaken by all accounts was pure evil and wouldn't hesitate to kill them all on a whim. More importantly he was threatening a friend and Ranma had no alternative. _I've got to do it, there's no choice._ Ranma thought in grim determination at what he must do.

"Moko Takabisha!" he yelled as he thrust his arms forward launching the Ki blast. The forsaken had just enough time to turn in surprise and watch the blue-white ball crash into his chest sweeping him off the cliff. Rand suddenly vanishing into thin air barely registered as the weight of what he had just done crashed into Ranma. _I killed. It was the only way but oh god I killed a man!_ Ranma sank to his knees as he tried to come to terms with what he had just done.

* * *

"Meren!" 

_Don't be noble you idiot. _"Don't stop RUN!" Meren hoped the horse would keep running from the worms and Ranma wouldn't think of jumping off. She raised her arms charging her spell as quickly as possible.

_Jump_ a small voice in her head compelled her. Meren thought it was a good idea, there was a hill behind her and smashing through it would be painful, that and she wouldn't clear the radius of the blast if it stopped her. She held her ground pouring more power into her spell as the Worm pack came into view. _Ugly buggers_ she thought as the creatures bore down on her.

The front of the Worms were as big around as a man and comprised almost entirely of a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Their shape was similar to that of an ordinary worm, long and roughly cylindrical but they had tentacles growing along the length of their bodies. Each tentacle ended in a large hooked claw that even from where Meren stood looked extremely sharp. _Jump_ the voice insisted. _Not yet, a little bit more. _She had already committed the full flow from _Courage_ and the spell was beginning to siphon energy from _Power._

Meren counted at least a dozen of the creatures coming out of the decaying muck of the blight bound forest. _Defiantly want to get them all, I only have one shot._ Just as she determined the size of the blast would completely encompass all the worms the voice sounded again. _Jump NOW!_

Meren leapt strait up over twenty-five feet in the air. "Kedrak Havik Ril!" she yelled firing her blast down into the approaching worm pack. The golden energy beam lanced out and impacted in the middle of the pack expanding in a huge explosion vaporizing everything within five hundred yards. Meren was propelled high into the air by the recoil of her spell.

Suddenly the beacon winked out from her senses. _What?_ She could still see the point of impact rapidly fading into the distance. The area of destruction wasn't large enough to have hit her friends but they were gone none the same. She looked around in panic as she tumbled through the air. She couldn't even locate Ranma's aura which she could pick out from a ridiculous range. Meren hoped that it was something Moiraine had done because she had no way to go back and look for them until she landed.

She spread her arms and legs and managed to bring her flight into some semblance of control. _Where the heck am I going?_ She thought looking ahead. The ground was quickly approaching. A seething mass of trollocs was engaged in a pitched battle with an army of men in a wide mountain pass. Meren's trajectory would land her square in the middle of the trollocs.

Acting quickly she prepared and fired another weaker Havik Ril strait into the Trolloc horde. It wasn't enough to send her airborne again but it did slow her fall to a less painful velocity and altered the direction so she would land on a rocky outcrop just above the battleground. Deftly landing on the outcropping she surveyed the battle.

The men were holding their own but were vastly outnumbered. Her blast had killed quite a few trollocs and caused a good deal of confusion in their ranks but did nothing to stem the tide. Looking over the ranks of mounted men she picked out a pair of banners bearing a black hawk and three foxes. Recognizing those banners from Fal Dara Meren noted in surprise that her previous shot had thrown her all the way to Tarwin's gap.

_Well Meren, you wanted a fight and now you've got one._ She thought to herself. She was a short distance behind the Trolloc lines and a few had noticed her but she was unconcerned. The ones trying to reach her were having a great deal of trouble finding a way up. She drew her sword as she felt her powers surge around her.

A wave of energy flashed across her body leaving armor in its wake. A deep blue cuirass with gold scroll work covered her upper body. At first glance it appeared to be steel but it had a crystalline quality that put that assessment into doubt. Her leather boots were replaced by a pair that matched the body armor and a pair of fingerless leather gauntlets backed by the same blue metal covered her hands and forearms. The coronet of twisted blue and gold bands bracketing the mark on her forehead also appeared.

Meren glanced down at her combat armor only vaguely recalling times she had used it in the past. _I guess I'll take all the help I can get_ she thought with a smile. She leapt off the outcrop into the waiting hoard of trollocs charging her sword as she fell. Three quick slashes of her blade killed dozens of trollocs and cleared the area around her. More trollocs quickly rushed to great her.

"Hotan Striker Barrage!" she unleashed her attack straight across the back of the trollocs front lines slaying dozens of trollocs in its path. She charged strait ahead continuing to throw the energy slashes into the hoard. Those that were not cut down by her attacks were no longer trying to reach her but to flee. In moments she reached the center of the pass.

From this vantage point she could fling the attack nearly to each wall of the canyon effectively cutting off the trollocs front line from the reinforcements behind. Trapped between the destructive force Meren was unleashing and the men, the trollocs front line quickly collapsed and perished. The rest of the Trolloc force pulled back to regroup giving the Shienarians a much needed respite.

Taking the opportunity to rest Meren turned to see Lord Agelmar ride through the line of mounted soldiers. "Meren? Peace it is you, what are you doing here?" he said extending an arm to her.

She reached out and clasped his arm. "I got separated from the others. I stopped to deal with a Worm pack that was chasing us. My way of dealing with them accidentally landed me here." Meren looked around at the fallen trollocs and men littering the field of battle. "From the looks of it you could use my help."

The lord of Fal Dara nodded. "Ay that we could. I thought you said you were untrained as an Aes Sedai. That looked like the power to me." A number of the soldiers in the line nodded in agreement.

Meren laughed. "That was A power but not the One Power the Aes Sedai use." A wordless roar came from the Trolloc host as they once again charged. "Let's see if we cant pull a victory out of this mess."

In response Agelmar raised his sword and cried out "Shienar!" The battle cry echoed up and down the line of men. Meren drew her dagger and began slaying any Trolloc that came too close. She had been drawing on the Triforce of _Courage_ too much and her ability to touch it was becoming fatigued. The Kedrak Havik Ril fatigued her in general and both it and the Hotan striker were fueled primarily by _Courage_. An occasional striker was about all she could squeeze out of that aspect at this point.

Instead she primarily fought in the style she knew best, Sword Dagger and Tail. Ducking a sword she disemboweled the Trolloc holding it as she turned and cut the legs out from another. A third Trolloc caught a dagger thrown by her tail directly between the eyes; moments after it fell the dagger flickered out of existence reappearing in its sheath on her back. A Myrddraal got too close and fell to a Hotan Striker along with a dozen trollocs behind it.

In this fashion she moved up and down the line of battle. Wherever she went the men rallied and pressed their attack and the trollocs fell before the onslaught. Despite the effect Meren had on the battle the outlook was still grim. Meren said as much when she found herself next to Agelmar again.

"Peace. But we shall not give up!" he exclaimed as he hew down a Trolloc with his huge two-handed sword. He had been unhorsed a short time before and had not yet found a replacement.

Meren nodded grimly bleeding from numorous small wounds. The shear numbers were beginning to take their toll. "We need a break soon or the men will start collapsing from exhaustion." She forced her way forward clearing an open space in the trollocs just in front of the men's line. The Trollocs backed away from her wearily; they had come to fear the blond, blue armored warrior.

Meren had a malicious grin on her face as she checked her line of fire to ensure she would only hit trollocs. She had been casting about in her fragmented memories for an attack not based off _Courage,_ and had finally found one. She remembered her fight with the Sorcerer, she had finally figured out how to work one of the attacks she had used.

Meren raised her left fist as the mark there flared brilliantly. "_INFERNO_" she called out in a strange echoing voice and then inhaled deeply. She breathed out a jet of flame more potent than dragon's fire that reached out fifty yards into the trollocs. The Beast men screamed in pain as she swept the flame back and forth across their ranks. Trollocs burst into flames, some succumbing instantly others ran screaming lighting their brethren on fire. When the attack ended the front ranks of the trollocs were once again decimated and in retreat.

Meren fell to one knee using her sword to support herself as she gasped for air. That attack had been potent and it had strained her already fatigued reserves of energy. A cheer went up behind her from the Shienarians, to them victory seemed assured. Agelmar helped Meren to her feet.

"Peace, are you sure you're not an Aes Sedai in disguise? With your help we can win this yet!" he exclaimed, those near him cheered all the harder.

Meren shook her head still panting heavily. "I'm getting tired. I'm not even sure if I can do that again." Murmurs in the crowd drew her attention to the end of the pass.

Down the canyon between the rallying forces of darkness and the men of Shienar stood a tall man. He was too far away for any but Meren and her enhanced eyesight to make him out clearly. _Rand__? It can't be._ To her eyes he was glowing brighter than the sun and had a thick white strand of the same white light leading from him off to the west somewhere. _How did he get here?_ Was all she had time to think before lightning arched across the sky.

The chard forms of Draghkar who had been circling the battlefield fell out of the sky as lightning struck again and again clearing the sky of them. Meren had been unable to do much to the winged creatures as they learned quickly to stay well away from her. Meren stared in shock as she saw the flows generating the lightning. _May the goddesses have mercy! He can channel! _

She watched as he fell to his knees and a wall of fire sprang up racing towards the trollocs incinerating them by the hundreds. He beat the ground with his fists and the earth rippled like water in a pond as a stone was dropped in. Waves of earth enveloped the Trollocs and Myrddraal in a crushing tidal wave of destruction. Suddenly all was quiet.

For a few brief moments the men and trollocs stared at each other through the dust in the pass. Meren saw what she could only describe as a door to nowhere open and Rand stepped through before it vanished. She didn't have time to contemplate what had just happened, the army charged. The men were still outnumbered two to one but they had a chance now. The trollocs demoralized by the destruction inflicted on their number looked about ready to flee as the horsemen bore down on them.

Meren smiled, she could give the men better than a chance at victory. Rand had given her the perfect ammunition though it would take everything she had left. All three marks flared to full brilliance as did the Trimirida. "Mimic!" A wall of fire sprang to life leading the cavalry charge. Their moral breaking the remaining trollocs fled in terror only to be burned alive. The wall burned itself out revealing a pitiful force of trollocs and a few Myrddraal all fleeing for their lives. They would soon be overrun by the mounted Soldiers.

Meren smiled as the armor and coronet faded along with her power. She felt herself falling and then strong hands catching her as she lost consciousness.

* * *

On a high cliff overlooking the battlefield a shadowy figure watched as the battle advanced towards its final conclusion. The man smiled from deep within the hood of his dark cloak. "So this is where you went Star-Child. You can not escape your fate by hiding from me. Your beloved Phoenix is trapped on that flea speck world, imprisoned beyond your reach for all time. Without her power even your strength is useless to stop what is to come. The dragon will fall and the wheel broken. Soon… very soon…" he laughed evilly as he faded from view.

* * *

The city was in the midst of a massive victory celebration but Ranma felt no joy as she followed the others through the city. Her tendency to attract water turned out to be useful for once drenching her before she had run into any of the others after killing Aginor. Even with that small crisis averted she was still deeply depressed about what she had been forced to do. A fact made worse when they could find no sign of Meren on their way out of the blight. 

They had found a large crater near the place they had seen her last but aside from that she had vanished completely. No reassurances from the others could lift her spirits. She looked at Rand with a bit of pity and envy. She had heard the tale of his adventures along with Moiraine and the other girls. She felt sorry for him because he could channel, the envy was the fact that he knew for sure and she did not. Having the possibility of channeling as a man a looming but uncertain threat was maddening. In a way knowing for sure would be a relief even if it turned out she could channel as a man.

She didn't even look up when they were led into Agelmar's study. She ignored the conversation until she saw a familiar pair of brown boots right in front of her. Her eyes traveled upwards finding a pair of green pants connected to the boots. Further still revealed a red jerkin and finally a blond girl grinning from ear to ear at her. Ranma's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, "Meren?"

In response Meren engulfed the redhead in a huge hug that was quickly returned. Meren quickly made excuses for the two of them and departed to catch up with her friend. The two yammered back and forth relating what happened to each after they were separated.

"… was so worried when you didn't follow us in…"

"…the spell killed the worms but the recoil threw me all the way to Tarwin's gap…"

"… then the forsaken showed up and all hell broke loose…"

"… Trollocs and Myrddraal going up like torches everywhere…"

"… then I had to kill Aginor."

That brought Meren up short; she knew exactly what that confession meant for her friend. "I'm sorry you had to do that. How do you feel about what you had to do?"

Ranma hung her head. "I feel awful. I didn't have a choice, he was going to kill Rand and I couldn't get close to him. I know doing nothing would have been worse but that doesn't make me feel any better."

Meren rested a comforting hand on her friends shoulder. "I know it hurts now but you did the right thing. From what I've heard of the forsaken none would hesitate to kill all of us for pleasure. They had to be stopped by whatever means were necessary."

Ranma chuckled darkly. "Necessary choices really stink some times."

"Look at it this way, by killing him you probably saved untold thousands he would have been responsible for killing later." Meren seeing that her friend refused to come out of her depression decided to fight dirty. "Anyway he was one of thirteen of the most powerful Aes Sedai from the age of legends and one of the strongest among them. Taking him down aint too bad… For a girl."

"Hey I was a guy at the time!" Ranma shouted back attracting a few odd stares from some drunken soldiers. They burst out laughing in their drunken stupor thinking it was some grand joke while Ranma glared at them.

Meren just smiled _ok plan B time_. "Well angry is a step up from depressed at least. Come on cheer up, holding on to depression just hurts you."

Ranma glared at Meren not only for the first comment but because she know she was right. Ranma knew enough from when she had tried to learn Ryoga's Shi Shi Hokodan how bad depression could be for a person.

Meren wrapped one arm around Ranma's shoulder and waved her other towards the reveling soldiers in the courtyard. "Look at this, do you know what this is? It is a celebration of life. These men rode out expecting to die to save their families. Against all odds they survived and returned victorious! This is no time to mope around thinking about could'have should'haves and what might have been. It is a time for drinking and being glad you are still alive to share time with your friends."

Ranma pushed Meren away as she led her over to a stack of kegs and flagons. "Quit joking around this is important-"

"So is this," Meren interrupted thrusting a flagon of ale into Ranma's hands. "These men have all faced the same choices you have just faced and have had to learn to deal with it. Celebrating what you protected is the best way to deal with what you had to do to protect it."

"I don't know…" she said staring down into her ale.

Meren laughed and took a huge gulp from her own flagon. "Trust me in a bit you will forget all about your problems and have a good time in spite yourself. Your doubts and self recriminations can wait. You need to enjoy life again if only for a few hours."

Ranma stared down into the dark amber fluid. _I really don't know about this but she's never steered me wrong before. Oh what the hell,_ she thought as she put the flagon to her lips and drank deeply. Wiping some foam from her mouth she looked up at Meren. "Fine I'll do it your way but tomorrow I want you to be serious about this."

Meren put a hand over her chest with a false hurt look on her face. "Me? I'm always serious. Cheers!" she exclaimed raising her mug.

Ranma sighed as she raised her own to meet Meren's. _Might as well at least try to enjoy myself._ True to Meren's word she did start relaxing and began to enjoy herself as the two partied far into the night with the other soldiers. She had forgotten all about the problems clouding her mind long before the two stumbled off too drunk to walk straight.

_Yep plan Booze always works for un-depressing em_. Meren thought drunkenly as they staggered away.

_To be continued… _

_

* * *

_

AN: sorry it took longer than I expected, ended up working all weekend and didn't have time to go over this chapter until now, hope I didnt miss anything glairing. It also took me forever to come up with the name Kedrak Havik Ril for that attack. a cookie to whoever guesses where I got those words from :) (and no they aren't just random letters)

In response to the criticisms I'm Sorry that the way some plot threads interact with the WOT story require that I introduce some early and some later. In retrospect I should never have broken this chapter in two but oh well. I understand your concerns and I'm keeping them in mind. I'd be concerned too if not for the fact that I'm not even a tenth of they way through the material planed for this fic at this point.

Sure I could push some of the ways Meren does and will screw up things by trying to hard sooner (plan B is defiantly not the best way she could have handled Ranma but that's next chapter). Sure I could push Ranma to his eventual power level right now if I wanted to. And then I'd be stuck trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the timeline as most of the stages along the path are contingent on WOT events. And no neither of them is going to degenerate into a depressed blob of goo although I reserve the right to give them bouts of it from time to time. the worst of it comes to a head next chapter and then will be gone for a while. No plans on having either sacrifice themselves in a blaze of glory either. Ranma isn't really going nuts either although I suspect the evil monolog was probably a strong enough hint on where several threads will be heading.

And I disagree on the assumption that no mater what unusual attack his opponent comes up with Ranma will always have a counter instantly. There are numerous examples of him getting hit by unexpected new moves. In fact there are numerous examples of him getting quite thoroughly trounced by them at first although he always finds a way to win even if its on the rematch. Ranma will adapt (and soon) to Meren's unusual tricks, she's sneaky but he's getting used to her methods. (and he will succeed in defeating that tail through next time she uses it.) his first major power boost is also very near on the horizon.

On the specific examples on Meren in last chapter, with Bornhald I don't believe I indicated friendship with him. He is intelligent enough to know when fighting would be futile. The innkeeper, that was perfectly within character for him. He would have approved of anybody smacking the guys wearing white around. The perrin thing I flip-flopped on cutting that one. Mostly it was meant to give a hint as to why Meren does certain things but probably was unnecessary and redundant looking back on it. The whole can of worms on the throne room scene, the royal aspect could have waited as it wont really come into play for quite a while but it was the best time to introduce it if I didn't want to jump into it abruptly when its time came. That scene also laid the groundwork for 2 other major plot threads that will cause trouble for both characters and allowed me to weave the royal one in as a part of one of those threads.

fixed the spelling error borg pointed out but my god why are you profreading my author notes too. those are lucky if they even get a spellchecker done on them :p

poly: Ranma is mainly haveing trouble because he didnt try. he sat in on one leason and was turned off by it quick. also figure that sadar you must surender to and embrase. how easy do you think it is for mr I never give up to surender? hell figure it out soon after reaching the tower (slated for chap 6. chap 5 is prety much aftermath of chap 4 and traveling to tower) as to the timelines most of the major WOT events still will happen although some will change slightly due to the presence of either Meren, Ranma or both. wich group of WOT characters they are with at the time will change (they wont always be with the girls for example) and sometimes thell be off away from the rest of the cast for periods of time (and sometimes seperated) lots of chaos planed for the tower, pranks, non channeling abilities, sparing matches geting way out of hand, P-chan

jetmillion: he'll fire the hyro shoten ha eventualy. curently his list of fights are Trollocs, spars with Meren, and aginor. trollocs its overkill, Meren he's holding back and not useing special although thats about to change and aginor there wasnt much of an opertunity, lots of fire but no chance to make the spiral. still havent decided for sure on channeling saidin with ranma. overall it wont effect the core of the plot much one way or another although some subplots will change depending on wich way i go.


End file.
